Code: Xana
by Just Another Fanatic
Summary: My version of the final season of Code: Lyoko, including relationships, Sissy's American cousin, heartbreak, and a lot of weird twists. Written as if each chapter is an episode. I wouldn't mind if you reviewed after reading.
1. Evil Flamenco

**Edited: 7/28/2011**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Code: Lyoko, or the characters from the show. I do, however, own Mardi.**

* * *

Code: XANA

#1 Evil Flamenco

"XANA's been awful quiet lately," Odd mentioned out of no where as he and Ulrich awoke. It was the first conscious thought that popped into his head and since Ulrich was most likely still mad at him from the day before, he wanted to make an attempt at conversation.

"Is there a point to you talking?" Ulrich asked sending a glare at Odd. Still mad.

"I was just," Odd began, but Ulrich cut him off.

"You've got a funny way of apologizing."

Ulrich walked out of the room to breakfast leaving Odd and Kiwi shocked and unable to speak.

"You don't think that what I did was too wrong," Odd looked at his dog as he fell onto his bed. "Do you?" The look Kiwi gave Odd made him think that even Kiwi knew what he had done was wrong. "Even you are a better person than me, and you're not even human."

Odd's intentions had been good. A few students had been playing music in the park, and Odd happened to see Yumi escorted by William. Not wanting Ulrich to arrive and see the two dancing, Odd had approached and asked Yumi to dance. Of course, they were only dancing as friends, but Ulrich arrived just as Odd was pushed from behind and into Yumi's arms.

A bit of groping may have also been involved.

Ulrich wouldn't let either of them explain, especially when Sissy purposely told Nicholas and Herve how "Odd and Yumi, the newest couple, have finally made it official this morning." Odd couldn't help but notice that ever since Sissy had kissed Ulrich, things had been different. Ulrich actually considered listening to Sissy every once in a while.

"Hello Odd," Milly and Tamiya approached him as he walked toward the cafeteria for breakfast. "Do you mind giving us a quote about your relationship with Yumi?" Milly held the tape recorder right up to Odd while Tamiya took detailed notes.

"Sure," Odd said deciding to be friendly. The two were just doing their job, after all. When it came down to it, they were pretty good kids, if not a little nosy once in a while. "Yumi and I are friends, that's it. Not even best friends, just plain old friends. It is one-hundred percent platonic."

"Is there anyone here you would consider a non-platonic relationship with?" Milly persisted.

Odd sighed. There wasn't, but he wanted to find someone. "No, I'm sorry. Ask Yumi the same question and it might be a more interesting answer."

"Where _is_ Yumi?" Sissy's voice rang behind Odd.

"I'm sorry, _Elizabeth_," Odd shot turning to look her in the eyes, but she was with someone. It was a girl. She smiled at him for a second, stopping Odd in his tracks.

"What's that you were saying?" Sissy asked. "Did she dump you already?"

"For your information, they were never going out to begin with," Milly snapped. Odd really wished sometimes that Milly and Tamiya wouldn't try to defend him.

"Too bad," Sissy laughed, "It would have been a nice change for them. Someone they could rely on." She smirked before turning to the new girl. "Come on, Mardi, it's almost class time."

Sissy turned and walked off, followed a moment later by Mardi. Odd couldn't help but think she was beautiful. She had long pale blonde hair that was shining in the morning sun and bright blue eyes that sparkled with adventure. She was wearing a preppy blue blouse and a light brown skirt that stopped about mid-thigh, showcasing her long, slender legs. She also wore a pair of black cowboy boots that looked old and battered, which, compared to the rest of her, looked out of place, but was oddly comforting to the blonde-haired boy.

"Who is she?" Odd asked hypothetically.

"That's Mardi Delmas," Milly answered anyway. "Sissy's cousin. She just arrived this morning from New Orleans."

"Sissy has relatives?" Odd asked. "Great, there goes any hope of happiness, now that there are two Sissies."

"She might not be that bad, Odd," Tamiya said lowering her pad of paper and pencil for once. "Who knows? She could be from the opposite side of the gene pool."

"It doesn't matter," Odd said shaking his head. "You're too young to understand, but Sissy is going to train her to be just like herself. The only difference will be that Sissy'll walk all over her." He shook his head as what he knew was bound to happen.

"Odd, give it up," Milly said, "I think you like her."

"I haven't even met her, how can I like her?"

"You think she's pretty," Tamiya said.

Odd looked at the two younger girls beside him. "Like I said, you two are too young to understand."

Odd turned toward the cafeteria and took a step towards food. The bell rang before he could take another step. "Aw, man! Missed breakfast, again!"

* * *

"Hello Odd," Aelita said when he sat down next to her in science class. "I missed you at breakfast today. Weren't you hungry."

Odd's stomach growled. "I still am, I just got, sidetracked."

"Good morning Miss Delmas and… Miss Delmas," Ms. Hertz said to Sissy and her cousin as they walked in.

"Good morning," Mardi replied taking a seat next to Sissy.

"Who's that?" Aelita asked.

"That's Sissy's cousin, Mardi," Odd said somewhere between depressed and enchanted.

"Are you still upset about yesterday?"

"Ulrich still won't talk a nice word to me," Odd said. He glanced at Ulrich, and it was unmistakable that he was complaining to Jeremie that very moment.

"He's not dating Yumi," Jeremie said to Ulrich when Ulrich had finally stopped complaining.

"They were in each other's arms yesterday," Ulrich growled. "It sure looked like they're getting close to one another." He frowned, noticing Odd glance at him. He determinedly looked back at Jeremie, just so he wouldn't have to be reminded of the day before visually.

"That was bad timing on your part," Jeremie said as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Odd was pushed into Yumi's arms just as you walked into the park."

"You expect me to believe that?" Ulrich growled.

"I do." Jeremie stared at Ulrich. "So do Odd and Yumi. By pushing them away, you might push them together."

"Ulrich," Ms. Hertz yelled, "since you feel that you don't need to pay attention, could you tell us the difference between circuits in parallel and circuits in series?"

Ulrich stared a moment. He hadn't heard a word Ms. Hertz had said, and even if he had, he'd probably still wouldn't have understood. He finally said, "No I cannot." The class laughed.

"Anyone?" Mardi raised her hand. "Miss Delmas, yes please."

"I didn't volunteer," Sissy squeaked, absolutely shocked to have been called on.

"I wasn't speaking to you Sissy," Ms. Hertz said. The class laughed again. "Mardi?"

"Circuits in parallel each receive all the voltage and divide the amps while circuits in series each receive all the amps and divide the voltage."

"Who is she?" Ulrich looked at Jeremie.

"Now you're willing to take my word?" Jeremie asked. "She's Sissy's cousin."

"Now there's two of her?" Ulrich did not sound happy at all at the news.

"Except Mardi seems to have a brain."

* * *

"You don't believe those ridiculous rumors?" Yumi asked William as relief washed over her face.

"Of course not," William said, "I saw what happened."

"At least someone believes me," Yumi sighed. She just wished Ulrich would believe her after a night's rest.

"Is something wrong?" William leaned slightly closer to Yumi.

"The whole school thinks I'm dating Odd. Odd! Yes, something is very wrong." Yumi looked back at the board.

"Okay, I guess I see where you're coming from on that," William said. He leaned back in his chair. "But don't worry. This whole thing will blow over in a day and no one will even remember the rumor existed in a week."

* * *

Jim had just finished checking the dorms were empty when he heard a noise. He turned around and was faced with a dark mist. The mist dove into him and his eyes flashed XANA's symbol.

* * *

"Wonder what we're doing in PE today," Odd said as he, Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich headed toward the gymnasium. Ulrich still didn't trust Odd and was on the far end of the group.

As they approached the building, they could hear music. Flamenco music to be exact.

"What is he doing in there?" Ulrich questioned.

"I'd say dancing," Jeremie said. They opened the door to find he was correct.

"What fun," Aelita said happily and quickly made her way further into the room.

"So beautiful, yet so naïve," Jeremie said after Aelita had walked further into the room.

"Oh, Ulrich dear," Sissy approached the brunette boy.

"Be prepared for another mindless, love-driven Sissy attack," Odd said. Ulrich glared at him.

"What is it Sissy?"

"You see, we need dancing partners and I don't have one yet," Sissy smiled.

"I'm going to see if Aelita will be my partner," Jeremie said leaving the scene.

"What about Nicholas and Herve?" Ulrich asked. "Wouldn't you usually partner with one of them?"

"They already have dancing partners," Sissy said. "Please Ulrich, you're the only boy left."

"What do I look like?" Odd questioned.

"You've got a girlfriend," Sissy laughed. "And like I would ever dance with a worthless loser like you."

"I'm not dating Yumi," Odd yelled. "And who said I wanted to dance with a brainless zombie like yourself?"

As the two quarreled, Ulrich sidestepped them and approached Mardi, who was still without a partner as she didn't know anyone and no one had thought to ask her.

"Back off Shorty," Sissy yelled. Her eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Where'd Ulrich go?"

"He's with your cousin," Odd smiled in triumph. That was until he realized that left Sissy as the only girl without a partner.

"Look what you've done," Sissy spat, "now I'm stuck with you."

"You should be glad," Odd said, "I'm a better dancer than him."

Jim called everyone around and began to teach them the dance.

"If I call your name," Jim said after the lesson, "you will need to attend a second lesson after school today and everyday until you can correctly dance. Missing this lesson will mean automatic failure. Jeremie, Sissy, Herve, Ulrich, and Marie. The rest of you currently are passing."

* * *

"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Ulrich asked a little later.

"You were only two steps behind Mardi at all times," Aelita said. "At least you were better than Herve, who was so nervous he forgot most of what we learned. I felt bad for his partner."

"I cannot see you dancing with Sissy," Yumi laughed when she heard about Odd's unfortunate pairing. The Lyoko gang was sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch. "But she was that bad?"

"I wasn't aware that checking make-up was part of the Flamenco," Odd said. He looked at Ulrich who hadn't reacted to yet another Sissy joke.

Aelita cocked her head to the side suddenly. "Did Jim say anything about partners joining those who aren't passing?"

"No he didn't," Ulrich said.

"It'll be interesting to see two failing dancers try to learn together," Odd said and laughed, until both Jeremie and Ulrich glared at him. "I guess that wasn't funny."

"Good guess," Ulrich said.

"While I'm stuck with Twinkle Toes Jim," Jeremie turned to Aelita, "you might want to look over what of the anti-virus I've written."

"Or we could have fun," Odd reassured her putting an arm over her shoulders, "right Aelita?"

"I was actually going to read that book for literature class," Aelita said. "It's never a bad idea to get ahead of schedule for school."

Odd looked disappointed.

"Don't worry Odd," Yumi said, "I'm sure you'll find something to do."

"What are you up to Yumi?" Odd asked hopefully.

"Studying," Yumi said as her face flushed.

"Alone?" Ulrich asked, lifting a single eyebrow.

"With a small study group in the library."

"You mean William?" Ulrich looked across the cafeteria at the boy Yumi spent much of her time with.

"Along with a few others," Yumi said. "Do you have a problem with me studying? Or would you rather I fail my math test tomorrow?"

"Forget I asked," Ulrich growled.

* * *

"Ulrich and Sissy," Jim assigned partners for the after school dance session. "Herve and Marie; which leaves Jeremie. You'll be my assistant."

"That'll be a couple to remember," Sissy snickered.

"Miss Delmas and Mr. Stern," Jim bellowed, "how about you show us what you've got." Jim started the music.

Sissy pulled Ulrich onto the dance floor and they began to dance; or rather they began to try to dance. By the time they were half through, Jeremie, Herve, and Marie were rolling on the floor laughing.

"Okay, it's about time you two learned to pay attention," Jim said. "Jeremie, come here." Jeremie stood up slowly and nervously. "First off, Ulrich, you're the male, you're in the lead. Second off, Sissy, what were you doing with your hands? Now, observe, Sissy, as I show you how to correctly dance the Flamenco." Jeremie turned beat red as Jim started the music and began dancing. Jim was dancing the female part, which made the whole experience harder for the others to not laugh.

"Where is everyone?" Yumi asked as she entered the library with William.

"They bailed to watch some television show," William said. "I guess that the channel is announcing a phone number and the hundredth caller gets five free backstage passes to the new band."

"What a coincidence," Yumi said. She sat down at the table across from where William took a seat.

"Did you understand last nights homework?" William asked. "I know we went over them in class, but I still don't get it."

"Sure," Yumi leaned across the table. "Let's see what you've got so far."

William turned his notebook toward Yumi so she could read his notes.

* * *

Odd looked around the courtyard to see that Jeremie, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita were still occupied. Nicholas was hitting the coffee machine, trying to get a drink he paid for; Milly and Tamiya were looking for something to write about; Emily was on her cell phone and laughing quite hard; and Mardi was sitting alone on the bench staring blankly into her science book. Odd smiled. It was time to possibly save her from Sissy's evil.

"Hello," Odd said looking down at her.

"Hi," Mardi said looking up from the book. She closed it and slipped it into her bag, then she put the bag on the ground and motioned that it was okay for him to sit down. "We never were introduced as you and my cousin argued. My name is Mardi."

"Odd." Odd said.

"My name?" Mardi asked.

"No," Odd corrected. "My name is Odd."

"Ah," Mardi smiled. "You don't seem to get along with Sissy. But, I think she has a crush on your friend Ulrich."

"Is it really that obvious?" Odd asked jokingly. "They've been in that after school lesson for a long time now."

"They have," Mardi looked at the time on her cell phone. "Three hours now. I didn't think they were that bad."

The gymnasium doors finally opened and the five students trudged out, dripping with sweat and not trying to look up. Nicholas promptly went to help Sissy, so Odd decided to help Jeremie who seemed about to collapse under his own weight. He stood and waved good-bye to Mardi, who waved back and stood herself to walk with Sissy and Nicholas. Herve tried his best to keep up, but fell behind in his weakened state.

"What did he make you do?" Odd asked.

"Two and a half hours of non-stop Flamenco dancing," Ulrich said. "I think I've danced with Sissy more today than I ever wanted to in my life."

Jeremie gave Ulrich a look that said, 'You thought that was bad?' but didn't speak because he was panting too hard from exhaustion.

"What did you end up doing?" Ulrich asked. He apparently had forgotten he was mad at Odd, or figured that they roomed together so it was better to get along.

"I studied for the physics quiz," Odd said. "And I met Mardi."

"She's nice," Ulrich said.

The three boys looked in the direction of Mardi, Sissy, Nicholas, and Herve. Mardi seemed to sense their stares because she looked back, smiled, and waved at them before walking through a set of double doors.

"Hey guys," Yumi walked out of the library and approached them. She looked at Ulrich and flushed, so she turned to Jeremie. "What did Jim put you through?"

"Flamenco boot-camp," Ulrich answered for Jeremie. "And Jeremie here was Jim's partner."

"You were Einstein?" Odd asked. "That must have been worse than dancing with Sissy."

Yumi looked at Ulrich as if to ask if he had had to dance with Sissy. Ulrich didn't answer; he just stared back at her.

Jeremie pointed toward the building to indicate that he wanted to get to his room to rest. "Sorry Einstein," Odd said supporting him as they began to walk toward the boarder's rooms.

"Miss Ishiyama," Jim's voice rang, "I believe that you do not live here. Please proceed to your own house while these three boys will proceed to their rooms."

"Bye Yumi," Ulrich called out as she walked away from them. "See you tomorrow."

"You too Ulrich," Yumi called out.

* * *

"Where's Jeremie?" Aelita asked the next morning at breakfast.

"Don't know," Odd said.

"He probably can't move," Ulrich said. Ulrich kept rolling his shoulders and stretching random parts of his body. "I can barely move after Jim's Flamenco session. I can only imagine what Jeremie must be going through."

"Poor Jeremie," Aelita said. "I'm going to check on him and see if I can't get him out of bed."

Aelita stood and walked out of the cafeteria passing a drowsy Sissy on her way out. When Aelita knocked on Jeremie's door, she only heard groaning. She opened the door and put her hands oh her hips. Jeremie was working on his laptop. He looked up at her.

"Just checking on Lyoko," Jeremie claimed. "I couldn't move enough to get to the desk." Jeremie motioned to his desk where his other computer sat.

"Jeremie," Aelita said, "you have to get up. We have classes."

"I know," Jeremie said. He crawled out of his bed so Aelita stepped into the hallway and closed the door. Moments later, she heard a loud thud on the floor. She opened the door to see Jeremie collapsed on the floor.

"Jeremie, what happened?" Aelita asked.

"I'm too stiff to move," Jeremie said. "Maybe I ought to stay in bed for the day."

Aelita sighed and helped Jeremie back to his bed. Just as he sat down, his laptop beeped.

"XANA's activated a tower," Jeremie looked at his computer. "And I'll never be able to make it to the factory."

"We'll handle it without you then," Aelita said. "It'll be a cinch."

Aelita ran through the halls and caught Odd and Ulrich just before they walked into their first class of the day. After she told them about XANA, Ulrich sent her and Odd to the factory while he went to get Yumi.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Jim caught Ulrich on his way to find Yumi. Ulrich turned to look Jim in the eye. "Or would you rather a trip to the Principal's office?" He grabbed Ulrich by the arm and dragged him to see the principal.

* * *

"Hello Jeremie," Aelita's face appeared on his laptop. "Odd and I have made it to Lyoko and there aren't any monsters in sight. We're just waiting on Yumi and Ulrich."

"Good," Jeremie said. "I can't do anything from here, so be careful."

"We will," Aelita said. "We've materialized the vehicles already."

"How about we get a head start," Odd suggested to Aelita after surveying the area for the seventh time. "I'm not convinced that they're coming."

"A few minutes, Odd," Aelita said. "We don't know what may lie ahead of us. Jeremie has sent them text messages."

"I bet they got sidetracked into each other's arms," Odd said. "It's about time too, but couldn't they have waited until after stopping XANA?"

After another few minutes, Aelita agreed that they should start so they could deactivate the tower as quickly as possible.

* * *

"You cannot tell me where Aelita and Odd are and you claim that Jeremie is probably in bed because he is stiff from an after school Flamenco dancing lesson, but Jim has checked Jeremie's room and no one is in there," Ulrich never knew how ridiculous it sounded until someone else recited back to him what he said.

"Something like that," Ulrich replied.

"I'm going to have to give you a few detentions for this," the principal said. "I could cut that down to one if you tell me where Jeremie, Odd, and Aelita are."

"I can't," Ulrich said.

"Fine then," the principal said, "get to class. And if you don't show up, you will be expelled."

"Right Sir," Ulrich said. He stood and walked out of the building. Once outside, he picked up his phone and called Jeremie. "If I don't go to class, I'm going to be expelled," he spoke as soon as Jeremie answered.

"What?" Jeremie yelled into the phone, "but Aelita and Odd are in Lyoko. At least see if you can get Yumi to go."

"I'll try," Ulrich said. "No promises. I'll see if I can track her during the next passing period."

"Good luck," Jeremie said.

Ulrich entered his math class and didn't look at anyone as he took his seat. Immediately people began to whisper about him and his missing friends. Ulrich didn't listen to what they said, instead he tried to concentrate for once.

* * *

"Hold on Princess," Odd said as they approached the activated tower. "XANA won't dare harm you so if we dive in there, the tarantulas won't shoot at you and I drop you off and you fix this little mess we're in."

"Odd, that's crazy," Aelita yelled.

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Odd said.

"We don't even know what XANA's plan is," Aelita said. "It can't be too dangerous or we would have noticed something."

* * *

"Where were you?" Mardi ran up beside Ulrich as the class left math.

"None of your business," Ulrich said. He scanned the courtyard for Yumi. She was with William. "Typical."

"What's so typical?" Mardi asked.

"Once again," Ulrich growled, "none of your business."

"Sorry," Mardi said sincerely. "Want to talk?"

"No."

"I'm just trying to make a few friends," Mardi said. "You seemed plenty nice yesterday. And so was your friend Odd."

"You're Sissy's cousin," Ulrich turned to look her in the eye. "I'm sure she can introduce you to a person or two."

"You're right," Mardi said, "she introduced me to two people." Mardi glanced at Sissy, Herve, and Nicholas. "I don't like them so I wanted to meet a few people on my own. Clearly, I was mistaken in wanting to meet you." Mardi turned and walked away.

"What was that about?" Yumi surprised Ulrich from behind.

"Me making an ass of myself," Ulrich said. "You're needed in Lyoko."

"What about you?" Yumi lifted an eyebrow.

"If I miss class, I'll be expelled," Ulrich said. "Here comes Jim. I've got to go or he'll keep me from class with the hope of getting me expelled. Bye Yumi."

"Yumi!" Jim yelled as Yumi turned to go to the park. "Ulrich. Come here. We need to talk."

"Sure Jim," Yumi said. She grabbed Ulrich's arm before he could escape.

Jim steered them toward the park. "Where are Odd and Aelita?"

"We don't know, Jim," Yumi said. "Ulrich just asked me if I knew a moment ago."

"Tut, tut," Jim said as the air grew a bit ominous around them, "what liars you two are. You know they're in Lyoko."

"How do you know about Lyoko?" Ulrich asked.

Jim's eyes flashed XANA's sign. No one was around, so he punched Ulrich. Ulrich collided with a thick tree.

"Ulrich," Yumi yelled, but Jim grabbed her by the shirt and dragged her to the shed and locked her inside.

Ulrich opened his eyes to see Jim approach with a crowbar. He pulled himself to his feet and began to run.

* * *

"We're going down Princess," Odd yelled as he and Aelita crashed. They were right outside the tower so Odd pushed her inside. He didn't even have time to turn around before he was out of life points.

Odd reappeared in one of the scanners. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jeremie.

"Aelita is in the tower," Odd cheered.

"You have to set up the return to the past program or Ulrich will be expelled."

Jim lifted the crowbar, ready to bring it down on Ulrich

Aelita typed in 'Lyoko.' "Tower deactivated."

"Return to the past now!" Odd said pressing the correct button.

* * *

"Where's Yumi?" Sissy's voice rang behind Odd the morning before, again.

"I think she and Ulrich are making out behind the shed," Odd said as he turned around.

Sissy went wide-eyed and ran to see if what Odd said was true.

"My name's Odd," he held out a hand to Mardi.

"I know," Mardi said.

Odd lifted an eyebrow. "You do?" Milly and Tamiya looked very interested.

"Sissy told me just before walking up to you," Mardi blushed. "I'm going to go now."

"One moment," Odd stopped her. Milly and Tamiya moved on to talk to other people. "I was wondering, if we happen to be dancing Flamenco in physical education, would you be my partner?"

"I'm Mardi," she said, "and I'd love to."


	2. Radio Obsession

#2 Radio Obsession

"I think she remembers," Odd insisted to Jeremie and Ulrich after school. Aelita was talking with Mardi by the benches.

"It must have been a coincidence," Jeremie reasoned. "Maybe Sissy really did point you out before they approached you. After a long day, she easily could have forgotten, but if Sissy had just told her…"

"What did you tell Sissy that got her so mad at you by the way?" Ulrich asked.

"It's not important," Odd said quickly.

"Hey Aelita," Yumi approached the pink-haired girl. "Hi," she turned to Mardi, "I'm Yumi."

"Mardi," the blonde shook Yumi's hand.

"Yumi," Aelita siad excitedly, "we're about to go paint our nails. Want to come?"

Yumi looked at her short, chewed up nail. Then she looked at Aelita's and Mardi's nails; both other girls had long nails that looked cared for.

"I'll pass," Yumi said. "I promised William I would help him with math anyway."

"That's cool," Mardi said.

"If she remembered," Ulrich said to Odd as the three boys walked through the dorms, "she would not have approached me after gym to meet me. Didn't I tell you how I was a total ass to her?"

"Maybe she figured you have mood swings," Odd said.

"Wait one second," Ulrich stopped. Music was in the halls. He turned to the room it was coming from. "How did Aelita get the new Subsonics CD?" he asked. "It hasn't come out anywhere but England yet."

"And since when does she even listen to the Subsonics?" Jeremie asked. He knocked on the door.

"Hello guys," Aelita opened the door. The three boys backed up as the smell of nail polish floated in the air.

"What are you doing in there?" Ulrich asked.

Aelita held up her hand. Her nails were a light pink. "We're painting our nails."

"You and who?" Jeremie asked. Aelita opened the door all the way to reveal Mardi. Mardi looked up from her multi-colored nails and waved.

"We would have done this in Mardi's room, but she's rooming with Sissy, and since Sissy and I don't get along..."

"I don't get along with her too much either," Mardi said.

"You seem to," Ulrich narrowed his eyes.

"That'll be over by the end of the week," Mardi said. "Every time we need to spend time together, we begin to fight. We're just too different."

"Well," Odd said, "that's the difference between families. Aelita and I are cousins, but you would never know that because we're also that good of friends."

"Please ignore Odd," Ulrich said. "He talks in random streams of consciousness."

That night, a black mist floated out of a socket and into the radio/CD player next to Aelita's bed.

Aelita's alarm clock went off at 6:00 as it did every morning and the Subsonics's number one single was on. Aelita smiled and grabbed her towel and shower basket. She left the radio on as she walked out of the room.

Aelita barely beat Sissy to the bathroom. She had learned to get there early after Sissy tricked her into walking into the boys showers one day.

"Aelita," Milly caught her as she came out, "did you leave your radio on? I love that station. It makes me feel like slapping Sissy."

"I might have," Aelita replied. She returned to her room and felt immediately calmer after she turned off her radio.

The next few days were normal for Aelita. The only difference was that she listened to her radio more and more everyday. When Sunday finally rolled around, she didn't think about leaving her room after her shower until Jeremie knocked at her door.

She opened the door, bouncing to the beat of the song playing. The moment she saw Jeremie, she got on her toes and kissed him. "Hello Jeremie," she said afterward.

Jeremie, once again, stood absolutely frozen.

"Look at the time," Aelita glanced at the clock. "We're missing breakfast." She turned off her radio and pulled Jeremie all the way to the cafeteria.

Odd and Ulrich were not talking, again. This time, Odd was refusing to talk to Ulrich.

"You heard what she said," Ulrich said to Odd.

"What's wrong?" Aelita asked.

"Ulrich and Einstein are _convinced_ Mardi is trying to get Ulrich to like her by flirting with me." Odd said.

"Why's that?"

"Sissy, for one, yelled at her," Ulrich began, "and I quote, 'Ulrich is my territory so stay away from him or you'll be out of here before you can blink.' This was after she told Mardi that the best way to get a guy to notice her was to flirt with his best friend."

"Well, it worked," Aelita said, "if that was what she was going for."

Ulrich opened his mouth, but nothing came out, so he took a large bite of his breakfast.

"What's up with Einstein?" Odd asked. "He hasn't spoken and he's hardly eaten his breakfast."

"Oh," Aelita smiled, "he's just shocked still after I kissed him."

Odd and Ulrich both caught himself choking when Aelita finished.

"Go Aelita," Ulrich said. "Jeremie, you've got to have something going through your mind, just say it."

"You're one to talk," Odd shot Ulrich a glare. "Come on Einstein, at least show some sort of facial expression. Don't leave Aelita hanging, wondering what you're thinking."

A goofy, happy smile spread over Jeremie's face.

"Hey Yumi," Ulrich answered Jeremie's cell phone as he waited for Jeremie to return from walking Aelita to her room. There was a math test the next day and Ulrich barely understood what half the symbols meant. "What's up?"

"I was actually calling to get Heroki to stop bothering me," Yumi said. "Where's Jeremie?"

Ulrich could hear Yumi's brother call out, "Is that Ulrich, your boyfriend?"

"I don't know," Ulrich smiled despite his answer. "I thought he would be back be now. He only went down the hall. If I want to pass math I suppose I should go find him."

"Well, call me when you get back," Yumi said.

"Yumi," Ulrich said, "it's a cell phone. I can take it with."

"Right," Yumi blushed. Her brother began making kissing sounds. "Heroki, please!"

"Well, he's not waiting for me in my room," Ulrich said. He saw Sissy round a corner and walk in his direction. "So, Yumi…" Sissy's face hardened and she stalked past him. Ulrich continued, "if you were Jeremie, where would you disappear to?"

"The super calculator," Yumi laughed.

"Not without stopping by to tell me or grab his phone first," Ulrich said.

"Check out Aelita's room," Uimi said. "That's where he went, right?"

"Oh, yeah," Ulrich said. He walked to Aelita's room. The door was open and music was playing. Ulrich thought it was a little bit of strange behavior for Aelita, but didn't dwell on the thought. He peered inside for a brief second, the turned away and dashed out of the doorway and back into the hall.

"That's not something I expected or want to interrupt," Ulrich said quietly to Yumi.

"What's going on, Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"You don't want to know," Ulrich said. "I'm going to go now. I think I'll get someone else to tutor me. Bye Yumi."

"Bye Ulrich."

"Did I just hear you needed a new tutor?" Sissy was behind Ulrich.

"I was thinking someone who understands math," Ulrich said.

"It just so happens that I do understand it," Sissy said. "Or, I hear Herve is only charging five Euros an hour for tutoring."

"What's the catch?" Ulrich asked.

"No catch," Sissy said. "I just want to help in anyway I can."

"So you wouldn't mind tutoring Odd too, right?" Ulrich asked.

Sissy put some hard thought into answering that question. "It would be more beneficial if I taught one at a time. But, if you really want to make sure Odd gets help too, someone else would be more than happy to help. But, pulling that A I got on the quiz yesterday is a rare skill…"

"Fine," Ulrich said, "but if you're going to help me, it'll be in the library."

"Screw the library," Sissy said. She grabbed his fist. "Music makes math easier, and since Stones has so graciously turned up her radio so the whole hall can here it, why don't we just work in my room."

"I'd rather…" Ulrich never got to finish his sentence. Sissy pulled him into her room and into a very passionate kiss. Ulrich tried to resist, for a moment, but then something told him not to. Instead, he embraced her.

A moment later, the phone in his hand began to ring. He pulled away from Sissy and saw that it was Odd calling. "I have to take this," Ulrich said to Sissy. "What is it Odd?"

"Where are you?" Odd asked, "and why are you answering Jeremie's phone? And why is there loud music wherever you are?"

"First off, you ask too many questions," Ulrich said. "And I opt out of answering any of your questions."

"I thought you were going to study math," Odd said.

Sissy took the phone from Ulrich's hand and said. "Go away, I'm tutoring him." She turned off the phone and handed it back to him. Ulrich furrowed his brow. "What?" she asked. "Like you didn't want him to go away."

"Fine," Ulrich said. "But if you're going to tutor me in math, we will be studying math and only math."

Sissy thought about that for a moment then agreed. "Well, sit down." She grabbed her books and paper and sat next to him.

After a while, Sissy had actually managed to help Ulrich understand half of the unit they were being tested on, Mardi walked into the room wearing shredded jeans and a black shirt and with her hair wrapped in a towel.

"Didn't you take you shower in the morning?" Sissy asked.

"Like you don't take eight a day," Mardi exaggerated. "And I didn't take a shower, my hair was just wet."

"Why?" Sissy asked.

"I'll show you," Mardi said. She unwrapped the towel and took it off her head to reveal several dark brown and cherry red lowlights in her blonde hair. "Ta da! Presto change-o! I feel more like myself again. By the way," Mardi turned to Ulrich, "Odd is looking for you."

"If you happen to see him again, tell him I fell of the face of the Earth, would you?" Ulrich said.

"Off Earth and into Sissy's arms," Mardi said, "got'cha. Well, I'm off to collect our laundry."

"Make sure you fold mine correctly," Sissy said.

"I will oh nasal one," Mardi said walking out of the room.

Odd carried his basket of dirty clothes to the laundry room to clean his clothes, as long as he couldn't locate Ulrich or Jeremie. Expecting it to be empty because it was the middle of the day Sunday, he was surprised to see a girl sitting in front of the drier pulling clothes out piece by piece and folding each before placing it into a basket.

Odd didn't recognize the girl from behind, and couldn't recall if any girls he knew had brown and red streaks in blonde hair. In fact, he couldn't recall ever seeing a girl with that kind of hair. He walking into the room and began loading his clothes into one of the many washing machines. The girl turned to look at him. It was Mardi.

"Hey Odd," she smiled.

"Wow," Odd said, "I didn't recognize you with your new hair. I'm guessing you just did that."

"Yep," Mardi said. "Just after running into you in the halls. Oh, I found Ulrich for you. He fell off the face of the Earth and into Sissy's room."

"Why is he in Sissy's room?"

"They're studying math together."

"What happened to Jeremie teaching him?" Odd wondered aloud.

"I'm guessing Ulrich didn't want to cut in on Jeremie and Aelita making out," Mardi said.

Odd coughed. "They're what?"

"Making out," Mardi said. "Don't worry, it's not the crazy making out where they feel each other up. It's just the kissing. Jeremie's hands might have been on the bed, and Aelita's seemed to be on Jeremie's shoulders.

"Isn't that Sissy's?" Odd asked, eager to get to a different topic.

"You noticed," Mardi said. "Yes, it is. We wash our clothes together because it's just easier that way. Or rather, Herve puts our clothes in the washer, Nicholas transfers the load to a drier, and I pull the clothes out and fold."

"And you don't care that Sissy doesn't do anything?"

"As long as she gets it done, I'm fine with it."

"Hey, do you, by any chance, like Ulrich?" Odd asked.

"He seems nice," Mardi said, "sure, he can be a bit cranky at times, but I don't really know him too well. I suspect he's Bipolar, but that could be my imagination."

"So you don't?" Odd asked.

"I don't want to say I don't like him…"

"You do?" Odd's tone went down slightly.

"Wait…" Mardi looked at Odd. "Do you mean like him as in want to date him? No, I hardly know him. I've spoken to him maybe three times, and all he's really said to me was 'hi' and comments about how he gets annoyed by Sissy."

"That's a relief," Odd said.

"Why?" Mardi asked. She finished folding the last shirt and slowly stood, staring at Odd through the hair that fell in her face. "Do you like me?"

"No," Odd stumbled over the word. "Not like that. It's that just about every good looking girl in this school is head over heels for Ulrich."

"So I'm good looking?" Mardi picked her basket up from the floor. "Thanks." She walked out of the room before Odd could respond to her.

"You're more than good looking," Odd said the words he knew would never come out if she had still been there, "you are hot."

"Jim's coming," Mardi said peeking her head into Aelita's room. Jeremie was still there, but they were no longer making out. The radio had been turned off.

"Thanks for the heads up," Aelita said. She turned to Jeremie. "You had better return to your room."

"Oh, shoot," Jeremie said. "I was supposed to tutor Ulrich in math."

"He's fine," Mardi said. "Sissy convinced him to let her tutor him." Mardi walked in and sat next to Aelita on the bed. Jeremie waved and walked out the door and began down the hall. Mardi turned to Aelita. "I saw you two making out, along with half the residence. What was that about?"

"I like him," Aelita said.

"But PDA?"

"What's PDA?" Aelita cocked her head.

"Public display of affection," Mardi rolled her eyes. "Don't you learn anything in Canada?"

"How did you know Jim was coming?" Aelita asked.

"He was walking down the hall behind me checking all the girls' rooms for any boys," Mardi said. "He hadn't quite turned the corner when I came in. He won't think anything of Jeremie, probably that he was tutoring. Should I go and warn Sissy and Ulrich?"

"That would be the right thing to do," Aelita said.

"Stern," Jim's voice rang through the hall. "What are you doing in Delmas's room?"

"I'm just tutoring him Jim," Sissy yelled.

"Then tutor him in the library," Jim yelled.

"Fine," Sissy said. "Come on Ulrich." Their footsteps could be heard walking down the hall and Jim's just outside Aelita's door.

The door opened and Jim peeked in. "Mardi? What did you do to your hair?"

"Colored it," Mardi said. She closed her eyes and smiled largely. "Like it?"

"I don't know if your uncle will like it," Jim said.

"He's fine with it," Mardi said. "Go on with your search. I think that girl in the room next to mine has a guy."

Jim closed the door and walked off.

"Is your uncle really fine with it?" Aelita asked. Mardi shook her head.

"Hey, do you know if your cousin likes me?" Mardi asked.

"Odd? I don't know. I can find out."

"Could you? Thanks. I'll see you at dinner. I have homework to do."

"Della Robia," the principal's voice called as Odd walked to his room for a textbook. As long as he was doing his laundry, he might as well finish his homework.

"Yes Sir?" Odd asked turning around.

"Where are you going?"

"To get a book," Odd said. "I figured I might as well read while my clothes are washing. Is that wrong?"

"Not wrong," the principal said, "but out of character for you. Has Jeremie finally gotten through to you?"

"No Sir," Odd smiled. "I know I'm much too thick for that to ever happen."

"He's got that right," Sissy said from behind Odd. Odd was surprised to see that Ulrich was really with her.

"Well," the principal said. "Continue with what you were doing." He walked away.

"Come on Ulrich," Sissy said.

"Actually, I was hoping I could steal him for a moment," Odd said. "Or will you get lost without him?" Sissy huffed and stalked off.

"What is it Odd?" Ulrich asked.

"Were Aelita and Jeremie making out?"

"If I say yes will you leave me alone?"

"I want the truth," Odd said.

"What do you care? It's not like she's actually your cousin."

"I know, but don't you think it's weird?"

"You'll think it's even weirder if you see it," Ulrich said. "But I have to go now. Currently, I am still at risk of failing this math test."

"I was actually just getting my own math book," Odd said. "You could come study with me and kill two birds with one stone. Wash your clothes too."

"Sissy'll be expecting me," Ulrich said.

"All the more reason for you not to show," Odd said. "And the laundry room can be the new cool hang out. We've been searching for one on campus."

"You're crazy, Odd," Ulrich said. "But I suppose that's why we're friends."

"Hey guys," Yumi arrived early Monday morning. "You all look tired."

"I am," Aelita said. "I couldn't manage to turn off my radio last night. It was as if it had me in a trans."

"Didn't Jim tell you to turn it off?" Yumi asked.

"No," Aelita said, "in fact, this morning, when I turned it off finally, he made me turn it back on."

"You can even hear it now," Ulrich said. "If you close your eyes and listen. Subsonics are on."

Yumi scrunched her face. "Do you think it might be a XANA attack?"

"My computer hasn't shown anything," Jeremie argued.

"Maybe he's found a way to block your program," Yumi said. "This isn't normal."

"I guess we could check it out after class," Jeremie said.

They all nodded. Yumi walked to class and glanced back to see Jeremie, Aelita, and Ulrich all bobbing their heads to a nonexistent beat.

"XANA has activated a tower," Jeremie said. He turned to Yumi. "Where's Aelita?"

"She was just here a minute ago," Yumi said. "Maybe she went to the scanner room. I'll go check."

"Good idea," Jeremie said. "I'll call Odd and Ulrich. If you can't find Aelita try calling her phone."

Yumi rode the lift to the scanner room to find that no one was in it. She pulled out her cell and speed dialed Aelita.

"Aelita's cell," her voice rang, "I can't manage to talk at the moment, but if you leave a message, I'll reach you as soon as possible."

Yumi rode back up. "I couldn't find her," she said as the door opened. Jeremie turned around and held up a finger to show he was talking.

"No, Odd, I don't care that you and Ulrich are listening to the radio," Jeremie said. "Hey, is Aelita there by any chance? Well, we need all three of you in Lyoko. I'll send Yumi there ahead of you. Hurry."

"Am I off to the scanner room?" Yumi asked. Jeremie nodded.

"Come on guys," Odd said, his eyes glazed. He, Aelita, and Ulrich were all sitting in Aelita's bedroom listening to the radio. They knew that outside, half the school's residents were listening through the door.

"We'll never make it there alive if we turn off the radio," Ulrich said.

"I don't want to leave," Aelita said.

"That's it," Odd said. He reached for the plug, but Ulrich caught his arm.

"Don't think about it," Ulrich said.

"It's possessed by XANA," Odd said. Ulrich gripped Odd's wrist tighter. Odd kicked the radio off Aelita's bed stand. The top fell off, but it kept playing. Ulrich and Aelita looked at Odd, confused. "XANA," Odd tried again. This time they believed him.

"We'll leave it on," Ulrich said. "But I don't think we'll be able to get out of there without getting trampled."

"I have an idea," Aelita said. She pointed to the window.

"Ever popular bed sheet rope?" Odd asked delighted. "My specialty."

"You've never done it before," Ulrich said.

"Why do you think my parents sent me to boarding school?" Odd asked. "So they wouldn't freak out when they realized that I wasn't in my bedroom."

"Hurry," Aelita said as Ulrich finally climbed down the rope. "We don't know what XANA's got planned. But I can still hear it."

"Right," Ulrich said. The three began running toward the factory.

"About time you got here," Jeremie said. "Hurry, to the scanners. Yumi's already taken care of a few hornets."

The other three went to the scanners. "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization!"

"Let's just get this over with," Ulrich said as a swarm of hornets approached.

"I'll get Aelita to the tower," Yumi said. Aelita and she began running toward the red glowing tower while Odd and Ulrich began fighting the hornets. However, a few blocks were waiting by the tower. Yumi threw her fan, but it missed and each block hit her. Yumi lost all of her life points.

"Yumi no," Aelita yelled. That's when the scipazoa floated out from behind a rock. "Jeremie," she said as the jellyfish cut off her path to Odd and Ulrich.

"The scipazoa is after Aelita," Jeremie yelled into the headpiece.

"I'm on it," Ulrich said. "Super sprint." Ulrich sprinted across the desert. Just as the Scipazoa grabbed Aelita and began taking her memory, Ulrich arrived and cut through it's tentacles. "And now to take care of those blocks. Triplicate." The three Ulrich's ran at the blocks. The lasers hit two of the Ulrich's but the third Ulrich sliced through one block and threw his sword at the other, destroying them both.

"Thanks Ulrich," Aelita said. She ran into the tower and deactivated it. "Jeremie? What's going on?"

"I," Jeremie was also confused, "I don't know?"

"Don't tell me you don't remember what just happened?" Yumi said.

"I can't remember anything that happened the last few days," Jeremie said.

"Me either," Ulrich said.

"I can," Odd said, "but it's all very fuzzy."

"XANA possessed Aelita's radio," Yumi said. "And no one remembers but me?"

"You probably had less exposure to it because you're not a boarder," Jeremie said. "School's going to be insane if no one remembers a thing."

"This ought to be interesting," Odd said. Odd then cocked his head to the side. "I have a sudden urge to hang out in the laundry room."


	3. The Tickets

# 3 The Tickets

"What are you five doing?" Jeremie asked as he sat down on the bench with Aelita, Yumi, Ulrich, Odd and William. They were listening intently to the radio an all had their phones in hand, ready to dial.

"Remember how I asked you if you wanted to go to the Subsonics if I could get tickets?" Ulrich asked.

Jeremie nodded. "I said I'm not a fan."

"Well," Odd took over, "William here is. We are trying to win tickets to their next show. Five tickets along with backstage passes. As soon as their song plays on the radio, we're calling in. The Tenth caller wins. So we're all calling in hopes that one of us wins."

"How about you help," William said. "If you get through, you can go instead of me."

Jeremie sighed. "We have a history test we should be studying for. When is this song supposed to be on anyway?"

"It's playing," Yumi said. All five listeners began to dial. They weren't the only ones. Quite a few groups of people were listening to a radio and had just dialed.

"I got through," Aelita said. "Oh no, I'm number four."

"Busy," Odd said. He hung up and tried again. Yumi and Ulrich both hung up and dialed again too.

The song finished. "That was the Subsonics latest hit and I'm here with caller ten. Could you please tell me your name."

"Mardi Delmas," her voice rang from the radio.

"Well, Mardi, you just won five front row tickets and backstage passes to meet the Subsonics this Saturday."

Mardi began to scream. The whole yard turned and looked at her, many glaring wishing they had won instead.

"That secures Aelita a seat," Odd said. "You're about the best friend she's made."

The bell rang. "History," Jeremie said. Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita all groaned having not studied sufficiently for the test.

"Mardi," Sissy approached her cousin in the cafeteria, "I heard you won some tickets. Do you know who you're taking yet?"

"No I do not," Mardi said.

"You have four tickets to spare, right?"

"Yes, but what do you care?"

"Just wondering. Hey, want to get pedicures after classes? My treat."

"If that isn't just blatant bribery, I don't know what is," Mardi said.

"You hear that?" Ulrich said to Odd, Yumi and Aelita. "Sissy is trying to bribe Mardi. Talk about low."

"She might actually have the right idea for once," Odd pondered. "If we promise Mardi something, as long as we follow through, it won't be wrong."

"Odd," Ulrich lowered his tone, "how about we let Mardi pick who she wants to."

"What if she does want to pick us but can't because everyone else is bribing her?" Odd asked.

"I don't want to," Ulrich growled.

"Then don't," Odd said, "just don't get in my way."

"Hey Mardi," Odd approached her after science the next day. "We sure have a hard test coming up. Maybe you'd like to get together and study sometime."

"Odd, if you need help you could just ask for it," Mardi said.

"Help?" Odd asked. "I don't need help, I just thought…"

"You'd like to go to the concert, wouldn't you?" Mardi glared.

"That's not my reason for wanting to study with you," Odd defended himself.

"You want to study with me solely because I'm smart?" Mardi asked in the same tone.

"No," Odd said. "I like you… is that so wrong?"

Mardi smiled. "I'm sorry Odd. It's just that everyone has been acting very false around me since I won the tickets. I don't know who I can and can't rust anymore. I'd love to study with you. How about Thursday so we'll be ready for Friday morning for the test."

"Great," Odd faked happiness. His smile faded as Mardi walked away. He said to himself after she was gone, "I'm just as fake as the others. But I really do like you."

"Congratulations, Mardi," Jeremie said as she passed him Tuesday afternoon.

"Is that it?" Mardi asked. "No bribing, begging, or off hand questions leading to asking if you can have a ticket?"

"I'm not a fan," Jeremie said. "I prefer the classical sounds of Mozart.

"I enjoy my fair share of classical music too," Mardi said, "but the Subsonics is still my favorite. Have you seen Aelita by any chance? I have four tickets to fill. Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"I'm positive, unless you're trading them in for opera tickets. Aelita's in the library."

"Thanks."

"Yumi, Ulrich, Odd," Aelita screeched approaching them by the gate. The three turned to look at her. "Ta da!" She pulled out a ticket to the concert.

"Told you," Odd said. "I told you she would invite Aelita. Do you know who else is going?"

"She has to take Sissy," Aelita said, "but she doesn't know about the last two tickets."

"I heard Herve wrote a poem for her," Yumi said, "it was really bad."

"Milly and Tamiya promised to write an article featuring her for their paper if they could go," Ulrich said. He looked at Odd.

"I haven't done anything wrong," Odd said.

"Yet," Yumi finished. "I've got to go. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye Yumi," Ulrich waved as Yumi began to walk away.

"Good bye," Aelita called.

"Oh Ulrich Dear," it was Thursday morning and Sissy approached Ulrich in the cafeteria. "I have some good news."

"Sissy, I don't have time for this right…" Sissy pulled out a ticket to the concert.

"Front row center," Sissy held it in front of Ulrich's face, "backstage passes for after the concert. And the probability to go to the after concert party. It could all be yours."

"What's the catch?" Ulrich asked, however, not in his usual harsh tone.

"You go as my date," Sissy said. Ulrich didn't take his eyes off the ticket. "I'll give you a bit of time to think about it." She put the ticket back into her bag and walked away.

"What did Sissy want?" Jeremie asked sitting down a minute later.

"I guess Mardi gave her an extra ticket because she invited me to go," Ulrich said.

"Which he will of course take," Odd said, "even if he has to be her date."

"How's Yumi going to that that news?" Jeremie asked.

"I don't think that's what Ulrich's focusing on at the moment," Odd said.

"I wonder why she gave Sissy an extra ticket?" Jeremie said.

"She said she couldn't think of one more person she wanted to bring, not to mention two," Aelita said as she, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi ran through sector five.

"Could we concentrate on what we're doing?" Jeremie said from the computer. "Only one minute left on the countdown."

"Calm down Einstein," Odd said, "I'm already here." Odd pushed the button. "But speaking of Mardi, I need to be back at school for dinner because I'm eating with her and then we're studying for the physics test tomorrow."

"Did I just hear him right?" Yumi asked. "Did Odd just say he was going to study?"

"I did," Odd said.

"You couldn't come up with anything better than to study?" Ulrich asked.

"I could use a little extra help," Odd said. "At least I'll pass the test."

"I've been studying every night this week," Ulrich said. "With Jeremie and Aelita. Why do you think I came back every night about eight?"

"I thought you were with Yumi," Odd said. "I guess I was wrong."

"I need to be home for dinner too," Yumi said. "My parents are almost on my case again. I want them to trust me slightly."

"We'll just get a little bit of information then," Jeremie said.

Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi jumped onto the elevator and were brought to a stop after a few seconds. Aelita stepped forward and began pulling information, sending it to Jeremie. After a few minutes, she stopped. The manta rays were emerging finally. Jeremie materialized the vehicles and the four quickly escaped the battle.

"That was a lot of good information you got Aelita," Jeremie said. "We might really be onto something now. I'll analyze it tonight."

"Bye guys," Yumi said as they exited the factory. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"Have you told her?" Odd asked turning to Ulrich.

"No," Ulrich said. It was common knowledge that Sissy had acquired a second ticket, but only a few knew that Ulrich had accepted her offer during literature class. "I'd rather not, but I guess I really should. I can still tell her tomorrow."

"The sooner the better," Odd said. "That's my policy."

"I don't trust anything that you believe in," Ulrich said.

"I don't see why not?" Odd said. "Just because I'm a little ridiculous at times, but all around I'm a good guy."

"I'd say you make a better cat," Ulrich said.

"What did you learn in school today, Yumi?" her father asked as they began eating dinner.

"Nothing of importance," Yumi said.

"Did you make plans for the weekend?"

"Not yet," Yumi replied. "I'm probably going to study for a hard test I have Monday morning."

"Your mother and I have acquired two tickets to a concert," her father smiles. "Would you like to go?"

"What kind of concert?" Yumi asked.

"A group called the Subsonics."

"You got tickets?" Yumi asked. "Seriously? But it's been sold out for weeks."

"We wanted to surprise you," her mother said. "They're not front row or anything, but they're still good seats. And you can bring a friend."

"Thank you, thank you," Yumi cried. "I can't wait to tell Ulrich."

"How did you get that answer?" Mardi asked Odd. They were sitting on the floor of her and Sissy's room checking their practice problems. "It looks like you just made up a random number."

"I kind of did," Odd said. "I knew the numbers I needed, but I didn't know if I needed to multiply of divide."

"So you chose random numbers? Mardi asked.

"They weren't random," Odd smiled. "Sissy has 8 lipsticks, 3 hairbrushes, 12 eye shadows, and 2 blushes. Well, sitting out at least."

Mardi smiled. "Aren't we trying to study? Let me show you how it's supposed to be done."

"Then I can show you how I fold the tests into origami birds," Odd said.

An hour later, the door burst open and Sissy strutted in. "What are you doing in here?" she asked looking down on Odd.

"Last I checked I was studying physics with Mardi," Odd said.

"Well, get out," Sissy said, "it's my room."

"My room too," Mardi said. "You'll just have to accept that, Sissy."

"I don't want him in my room," Sissy said.

"I guess you don't want that extra ticket either," Mardi said coolly.

"Good one," Odd said.

"At least I don't have to deal with him there," Sissy said stomping back out of the room.

Mardi smiled. "How would you like to prove her wrong?" She asked.

"How?" Odd asked.

"I give you the last ticket," Mardi said. "Want to come?"

"I'd love to," Odd said. "I'd also like to pass this test."

"Hey Ulrich," Yumi said as she arrived at the school. "Guess what."

"I don't really have time for guessing games," Ulrich said. "I have a test next period."

"Good morning Yumi," Odd said approaching from the cafeteria.

"Hello Odd," Yumi said.

"Did Ulrich tell you my good news?"

"No, he's been studying."

"Well, I got Mardi's last ticket to the Subsonic concert," Odd said. "She's so beautiful."

"The ticket or Mardi?" Ulrich asked.

"Both," Odd sighed.

"I guess I'll see you there," Yumi said.

"Huh?' Ulrich and Odd both looked at her.

"My parents got me two tickets," Yumi said.

"Funny you should get two," Odd said. "You'll probably invite William, right?"

"Why do you say that?" Yumi asked.

"I think I'll let Ulrich field that question. I've got to catch up with Jeremie and Aelita."

"Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"Well, you see…"

"It's kind of quiet in here," Aelita said as the Lyoko gang rode their vehicles through the forest region toward the transporter to sector 5.

"I understand Ulrich and Yumi," Jeremie said, "but I haven't a clue what's gotten into Odd."

"He's just day dreaming," Ulrich said.

"Just make sure he's fully aware that he's in Lyoko," Jeremie said.

"Don't worry Jeremie," Odd said, "no harm will come to your lady."

"Hornets approaching from the East," Jeremie said.

Odd took aim and hit all three. "When I say none, I mean none."

"Nice work Cupid," Ulrich said.

"Oh no," Odd said. He had just had a vision of the scipazoa succeeding in stealing all of Aelita's memory in sector 5. "Jeremie, we can't go to sector 5. The scipazoa's going to steal Aelita's memory."

"Odd, did you forget why we're here?" Yumi asked. "To protect her from that."

"We weren't there," Odd said. "We can lose our life points too."

"Here's an idea then," Ulrich said. "We don't."

"Jeremie?" Odd begged.

"Just be extra careful please," Jeremie said.

"If Odd had a vision, then we shouldn't risk it," Yumi said. "I have never known his visions to not come true."

"It's your choice Aelita," Jeremie said. "Do you think we should continue?"

"I'll be extra careful there," Aelita said. "I promise."

"I'm not going then," Odd said. "Devirturalize me Jeremie."

"Are you sure Odd?" Jeremie asked.

"Just do it," Odd said.

"That's going to prevent her from getting her memory stolen," Ulrich laughed.

"Hey, Mardi," Odd said approaching her in the cafeteria during dinner. "Thanks, I really think I got a good grade, all thanks to you."

Mardi smiled. "All pumped up for tomorrow?"

"Not as much as Ulrich but, yes, I am," Odd said.

"Where's the rest of your gang?"

"Doing something stupid," Odd said.

"That's impossible," Sissy said. "You're the stupid one so without you, they would only be less prone to do stupid things."

"At least I'm smarter than you," Odd said. "Not to mention your friends. But, contrary to popular belief, I do not need to be with them to lead them into stupid things. They can wander in on them on their own."

"Yumi, look out," Ulrich yelled.

"You too, Ulrich," Yumi yelled. Behind each of them was a Creeper. Both Creepers took a shot before they could turn and defend themselves.

"Be careful," Jeremie yelled. "Ulrich, you can only take two more shots at most and Yumi, you only have ten life points left."

"Call Odd then," Ulrich said. "He'll be pissed, but he'll come."

"Good idea," Jeremie said. He dialed Odd.

Odd's phone rang as he and Mardi walked out of the cafeteria. "Hello," he said when he saw who was calling.

"We were wrong," Jeremie said. "Ulrich and Yumi are both almost out of points. We need you at the factory."

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Odd said and hung up. "I'm sorry Mardi, but there's been an emergency and I have to go."

"That's okay," Mardi said.

Odd turned and ran toward the park. Sissy appeared next to Mardi. "You're not just going to let him ditch you? Are you?"

"What do you suggest I do?" Mardi asked. "Tell him he can't attend to whatever emergency he has to go to?"

"I say we follow," Sissy said. She grabbed Mardi's hand and pulled her to follow Odd. They watched as Odd went into the clearing and saw him climb into the sewer. "Gross," Sissy whined as she and Mardi followed.

"This was your idea," Mardi reminded. "Come on now. We've got to hurry."

"How do you know what way he went?"

"I can hear where the only sound is coming from."

The two girls began to run.

"You need to get to where the transporter will pick you up," Jeremie said to Odd after virtualizing him.

"I know," Odd said. "How are Yumi and Ulrich on life points?"

"They both are down to only ten points," Jeremie said. "Hurry."

"I'm almost there," Odd said. "Get the transporter ready."

"Already on it," Jeremie said. He typed in "Scipio" just as Odd arrived to where the transporter picked him up. The transporter brought Odd to sector five and he ran into the maze. Jeremie turned his attention to Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita. "How are you holding up?"

"We could really use Odd," Ulrich said.

"He's already on his way," Jeremie said. "Another two Creepers have just entered the room you're in."

Several lasers shot across the room and both Yumi and Ulrich were hit, leaving Aelita alone. That's when the Scipazoa appeared. Aelita were surrounded. "Jeremie, help," she whimpered.

"Odd, hurry!" Jeremie yelled. "The Scipazoa has Aelita."

"I see her," Odd said. "Laser arrow! Laser arrow!" He hit the jellyfish monster enough to get it to drop Aelita momentarily. He then had to take care of a few Creepers as the Scipazoa went after Aelita again. After hitting two creepers, with another two to go, Odd ran in and grabbed Aelita's hand. "We can outrun them. Let's go Princess"

"What is he doing at this old factory?" Sissy asked.

"You mean 'what are _they_ doing,' don't you?" Mardi asked. "I have no doubt in my mind that his whole gang is here."

"Let's go inside," Sissy said.

"You just want to see if Ulrich is there or not," Mardi said.

"Is there any thing wrong with that?" Sissy asked.

"I suppose not," Mardi said slowly, "but whatever it is must be a secret because no one else seems to know about it."

"Odd's there," Sissy said. "And as disgusting as it is, I have noticed you blushing when he flirts with you. So don't tell me that you don't like him."

Mardi, blushing wildly, walked past Sissy and into the entrance of the factory. She grabbed one of the ropes and slid down just as Sissy caught up and did the same. They began walking toward the elevator.

"We have a problem," Jeremie said as Ulrich and Yumi climbed the ladder into the super computer room.

"I'll say," Ulrich said, "we waited for the lift for about three minutes before we decided to climb."

"I shut it off," Jeremie said.

"Why?" Yumi asked. Jeremie pointed at a corner of the computer screen. The camera showed Sissy and Mardi wandering around the top level of the factory near the elevator entrance.

"We'll need to get out of here without them seeing us," Jeremie said. "But, first, I'm getting Odd and Aelita out of Lyoko." He typed in the proper codes and then stood from the chair and took off his earpiece.

"Why don't you trap them in the elevator and we walk out the side entrance," Ulrich said, almost hopeful.

"But if Mardi and Sissy are trapped," Yumi glared at Ulrich, "who is going to take you to the concert?"

"If I had known…"

"That's not the point," Yumi said.

"Then what is?" Ulrich asked.

"Focus," Jeremie said.

"What's up with the lift?" Odd asked climbing the ladder.

"I think Sissy and Mardi followed you," Jeremie said pointing at the computer. "At a distance, but still, they wound up here."

"How do you know they followed me?" Odd asked.

Jeremie reached toward the computer, hit a few keys, and Sissy and Mardi's voices sounded through the computer's speakers.

"Maybe we should just leave," Mardi suggested. "Why would any of them be here?"

"I don't know," Sissy said. "We'll just have to ask Odd next time we see him. He did lead us here."

"I see," Odd said. "But there is no need to fear. I know how we can get Sissy to leave. Ulrich, send her a text message asking to meet her for desert or something. After going through the sewer, there's no way she'll meet you without having a shower and a complete change in clothing first. And it seems like Mardi is already up for leaving."

"The world must be coming to an end," Yumi said. "Odd came up with a feasible plan."

Ulrich pulled out his cell phone, and moments later, they watched as Sissy pulled her cell phone from her pocket and smile a sweet victory smile. She grabbed Mardi's wrist and yelled, "Hurry up, I need to shower and change."

Odd stared up at the ceiling, waiting for sleep. It had to be past midnight, but Odd wasn't tired. He felt as if the night somehow wasn't over. Ulrich had been sleeping for a few hours at least, but Odd couldn't understand why he was having so much trouble. He sat up and climbed out of bed.

He silently walked through the halls, not knowing exactly where he was going, but knowing his feet would take him to where he needed to be. Before he knew it, he was standing outside Mardi's dorm. After making sure Jim wasn't anywhere near, Odd knocked softly, hoping Sissy wouldn't be woken. A minute later, the door opened by a tired looking Mardi. She glanced both ways down the hall before stepping out and closing the door behind her.

"You know you could get into trouble for being here this late at night," Mardi said, despite a sheepish smile.

Odd nodded. He hadn't taken a step back as Mardi had stepped out of her room, and he was now aware about how close they were. He placed a hand on her cheek, leaned forward, and kissed her. After a moment, the kiss ended, but he lingered close to her, his lips still against hers though they weren't kissing. "I just had to let you know how I feel," Odd said. His eyes were still closed, but he felt Mardi's arms wrap around his neck and kiss him again, this time, with much more flare.

Finally, she backed away. "I'll see you tomorrow at the concert," she said before going back into her room.

Once back in bed, Odd fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.


	4. Talent Show

#4 Talent Show

Disclaimer: I wish I owned this, but I don't. Know that I am not the owner, so don't think I am.

Ulrich sat on the ground, leaning against a tree while reading a book early one morning. As he sat, enveloped in what he was reading, Yumi approached him.

"Did you see the signs?" Yumi asked.

"What signs?" Ulrich asked leafing through the book.

"Well," Yumi looked down to see what Ulrich was reading. For a moment, she thought she saw a poem, but Ulrich slammed it shut when he noticed her gaze and hastily shoved it into his bag. Yumi continued. "Jim is putting up signs about a talent contest being held next week."

"A talent contest?" Ulrich gazed up and into Yumi's eyes for a moment, but as both their cheeks began to flame, he looked away.

Moments later, Odd came running through the courtyard yelling for Yumi and Ulrich. They both sighed and looked their short friend as he sprinted toward them. "Did you see the…" Odd began.

"Signs for the talent show?" Yumi finished. "Yes."

"Good," Odd said. "I signed us up for a slot just after the intermission. You know, a little rock to get it started again. So, we'll practice every afternoon just after classes. I have to go find Nicholas and make sure he knows. Should I tell Jim too?"

"You signed us up without even asking?" Ulrich said standing.

"I guess I should tell Jim," Odd was talking to himself. "Otherwise he'll find out and we'll get into a lot of trouble."

"Odd," Yumi and Ulrich yelled in unison.

"What?" Odd said.

"You signed us up without consulting anyone else?" Ulrich said.

"Well it was that or go after Sissy does her little excerpt from Swan Lake ballet," Odd said. "You wouldn't believe how many people here think they have talent."

"You run into them everywhere you go," Ulrich said, glaring at Odd. Odd still was oblivious to Ulrich and Yumi's annoyance.

"Well," Odd said, "I really do have to find Nicholas. See you in class or whenever."

"Whenever couldn't come too soon," Yumi said as she and Ulrich watched Odd run off. Yumi sat on the ground and looked at Ulrich's bag. The book he had been reading was just showing and Yumi couldn't help but pull it out enough to read the cover. It was poetry.

"A talent show?" Aelita asked. "What sorts of talents are showed?"

"All sorts," Odd explained. "Ulrich, Yumi, Nicholas, Jim, and I are in a band. We'll be performing."

"You should perform your computer skills," Aelita said to Jeremie. "You're computer talent is amazing. I bet you are the most talented when it comes to computers."

"That's not the kind of talent they are looking for," Jeremie said through blush. "They are looking for anything of entertainment value. No one wants to sit and watch me type for five minutes."

"Then what other kinds of talents are displayed?"

"You know," Odd said. "Someone will do yo-yo tricks. Someone might do some martial arts. Singing. Dancing. Gymnastics. Whatever they can do that people will enjoy watching."

"Is there anything I can do?" Aelita asked. Odd and Jeremie looked at each other. Neither of them knew if Aelita had any kind of talent that would be good enough for the show.

"Maybe you ought to sit this one out," Jeremie said. "You can…" Jeremie thought for a moment, "see what is involved and then, if you want to, come up with an act for the talent show next year."

"Oh," Aelita said looking toward the ground. "You don't think I'm talented."

"No," Jeremie freaked out, "I mean, yes. I mean, I think you are very talented. It's just that getting an act together for the talent show takes time and it's only a week until the show. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi already have a band, but it takes a lot longer than a week to plan an act for the show."

"Then we should get started on an act for next year," Aelita said.

"You don't even know if you will want to be in it yet," Jeremie said. "Maybe you should wait until after you see the show."

Aelita sighed, but reluctantly agreed.

"Ulrich looks so handsome up there," Sissy said watching the dress rehearsal a few days before the show. Herve, who was next to her, pushed his glasses up his nose.

"He looks just like any ordinary guy if you ask me," he said with a twinge of jealousy.

"Don't be ridiculous, Herve," Sissy said. "I should be up there singing, not Yumi. She's spoiling the fun of being the prettiest and most popular girl in school. And what kind of band has a trombone in it? Especially if it is Jim. I am more talented than everyone up there. I don't see why the rest of the school bothered to sign up when they knew I was going to perform."

"Hey, Sissy," Herve said, "don't you need a partner for your excerpt? If you do need one, I would be happy to fill in."

"I'll be fine," Sissy said. "I chose a piece where I would be the only one on stage worth looking at anyway." Sissy stood as she heard her name called to get ready as the band finished up their song and began to pack up their instruments.

"Hello Ulrich," Sissy said passing him toward the stage. "You looked hot up on stage. Will you play me a solo performance later tonight?"

"Can't," Ulrich said. "My schedule says that I'm doing nothing except avoiding you."

Sissy's smile dropped. "Someday you will admit you are absolutely crazy about me. Until then, I can wait. I'm a very patient girl."

"Never would have guessed," Yumi said, "considering you are chasing him everywhere he goes."

"That was very good everyone," Odd said to the band. "I can tell you've been practicing Jim. It shows in your performance. Yumi, nice job, but you were a little flat during the second chorus. Make sure you're right on key next time. Ulrich, you tempo was a little too slow. And Nicholas, you were a little too fast. Both of you need to make sure you practice good and hard for the show. We don't want to get booed off stage."

"You didn't play perfectly," Yumi said glowering in anger. "I happened to notice you missed several chords."

"I actually took those out because they didn't fit in the piece correctly," Odd said.

"You mean you can't play them correctly?" Ulrich asked. "And maybe you should check with us before changing the piece."

"Or before signing us up to play," Yumi said.

"Why are you two attacking me?" Odd asked.

"Because you are trying to take control," Yumi said. "We're not doing this to serve you and you are not in charge of the group. Ease up and learn your own part before you start berating us on our parts."

"Yumi," Odd said in mock sadness. He placed a hand over his heart. "I am hurt. Why would you say such cruel things to me?"

"Because you deserve it," Yumi said.

"Ulrich," Odd said, "I could use a little back-up from you."

"I'm on Yumi's side," Ulrich said.

"Ignore the fact that you like her and just admit you think I'm right," Odd said.

"I don't," Ulrich said. "I actually disagree with you one hundred percent. And now I'm going to do my homework."

"We still have to run through the song three more times," Odd said grabbing his arm.

"Get off me," Ulrich said pushing Odd backward into a pile of boxes. Odd fell over them, and hit his head.

"That hurt," Odd said after a minute when he finally pulled himself to his feet.

Ulrich was already gone and Yumi was collecting the last of her things. "Good," she said and walked out.

"Hey," Odd said, "where are you going? Yumi… Ulrich… I'm sorry, but the truth hurts."

Odd stood alone for a minute before grabbing his guitar and playing a few chords. He sat down and played to himself for a few minutes until the lights went off. "Uh oh."

"Howdy, Jeremie," Mardi tipped her newly acquired cowboy hat as Jeremie walked into Aelita's room.

"Jeremie," Aelita smiled, "Mardi's teaching me to line dance. Isn't that exciting?"

"It's a surprise," Jeremie said sitting on Aelita's bed. "I wasn't aware that the Delmas was a line-dancing family."

"Only the American ones," Mardi laughed. "This also means only the competent ones, ironically enough." Aelita and Jeremie laughed.

Aelita hit the play button on her boom box and a violin started to play. Apparently Mardi had already taught Aelita quite a bit of the dance as the girls danced in perfect synchronization. That was until Aelita suddenly stopped and watched what Mardi did next.

"You think you can do that?" Mardi asked as she finished the last step.

"I think I can," Aelita said, "as long as you walk me through the steps a few times first."

"Of course."

"I didn't know that line dancing was to a violin," Jeremie said.

"It's called a fiddle when it's played like that," Mardi informed Jeremie. "Would you like to learn? It's always much more fun with a guy in the middle."

"No thank you," Jeremie said. "Dancing's not my forte."

"Ah well," Mardi said. She turned to Aelita and began walking her through the steps.

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. Odd then walked in the room.

"Hey guys," Odd said monotony.

"Hey Odd," Mardi said, "You feeling okay? You sound a bit glum."

"I wish it was just a bit," Odd said. "I don't think Yumi and Ulrich will ever forgive me."

"Why?" Aelita asked.

"I yelled at them a bit after practice and I don't think they appreciated my advice all too much."

"Apologize," Jeremie said, "before the show would be good."

Odd didn't apologize, and was still not talking to Yumi or Ulrich when the night of the show came. As they pulled their instruments onto the stage, Jeremie's computer began beeping. He turned to Aelita and she read his eyes.

"We have to wait," Aelita said. "A few minutes won't make a difference."

"I sure hope not," Jeremie said.

As the song went on, the beams over head suddenly broke and crashed to the stage. Yumi and Jim were able to jump off and Nicholas was lucky that nothing fell on him. Ulrich and Odd, however, were stuck underneath.

"Ulrich, Odd," everyone began yelling and trying to get to the stage.

"I'm okay," Ulrich said, "it's only my leg."

"You're leg is broken," Yumi said.

"What happened?" Odd said wearily. His head was bleeding and one of the beams was lying across his stomach.

"We need to get this beam off him," Jim said. "Nicholas, grab the beam and help me lift. One, two, three. Lift."

"Ah!" Odd screamed. "That's making it worse!"

"Everyone, back up," the principal yelled. "Off the stage. I'm sorry, but everyone, get off the stage. An ambulance is on its way here."

"Yumi," Jeremie said pulling her from the crowd.

"To Lyoko?" Yumi asked, years in her eyes. Jeremie nodded.

"The activated tower is in the Forest region," Jeremie said as Yumi and Aelita stepped into the scanners. "Scanner Yumi; scanner Aelita. Transfer Yumi; transfer Aelita. Virturalization."

"XANA really has it in for us this time," Yumi said. There were ten kankarats waiting for them to arrive. "We're going to need the overwing, now preferably."

"It's on its way," Jeremie replied.

Yumi pulled out her fans and began blocking lasers the kankarats were shooting at the two girls. As soon as the overwing appeared, Yumi and Aelita jumped on. Yumi had Aelita steer as she threw her fan at the kankarats.

"Lift!" Several men began lifting the beam at once, and even though Odd began yelling in pain.

"Please calm him down or he'll injure himself more," a man yelled.

"Just keep breathing Odd," Jim said. "Ulrich, get over here and calm him down?"

"How exactly do you expect me to do that?" Ulrich asked. His leg was still under the beam. The paramedics thought it was more important to help Odd first.

"Okay," the lead paramedic said. "On my signal, everyone lift and we will pull him out as quickly as possible. One… Two… Three. Lift!"

All the men there lifted the beam and Odd was pulled out. Ulrich moved quickly and the beam was set down. Odd began to grit his teeth in the pain that had amounted after he was pulled out. Now, for the first time, blood could be seen on Odd's shirt.

"He may have internal bleeding," the paramedic said. They put him on a stretcher and rolled him outside. Immediately they got him into the ambulance and it began to speed back to the hospital. The two remaining paramedics helped Ulrich onto a wheelchair and rolled him to the other ambulance. Ulrich tried to ignore the pain, but it was a bad break and most certainly in more than one place.

"This is horrible," Jim said furrowing his eyebrows.

"It sure is," Mr. Delmas said. "Two young boys from this school are off to the hospital. One may be in critical condition."

"Not that," Jim said. "My trombone is dented. Now it won't play properly."

"Have you lost it, Jim?" Mr. Delmas asked. "There are some things more important than music."

"Hold on tight, Aelita," Yumi said. She began to weave through the trees with five hornets on their tails. With luck, one hit a tree and was destroyed. That still left four though.

"I see the tower," Aelita yelled, pointing toward the tower in the distance. Yumi nodded and tried to make the Overwing fly faster. It didn't work very well.

"Jump," Yumi yelled as the Overwing was hit by a laser and began to disappear. Both girls jumped and rolled on the ground. Yumi pulled out her fans and began blocking lasers as the hornets closed in on the two.

"There you go young man," a kind nurse said as she finished Ulrich's cast. The doctor had ordered him not to stand, but had given him a wheelchair so he could move about freely.

"Do you mind if I visit my friend?" Ulrich asked. "Do you know what kind of condition he is in?"

"I'm sorry, Ulrich," the nurse said, "but he is in critical condition at the moment and the doctors don't want anyone disturbing him until the can stabilize him. But, if he is anything like you, that won't be too long, will it?"

The nurse offered Ulrich a weak smile, but it wasn't backed by and emotion and looked rather strained.

As soon as the nurse left, Ulrich jumped to his good leg and began hopping down the hall, looking for Odd's room. It didn't take him long to find it.

Odd was passed out on the bed. He had an IV in his arm and several machines keeping track of his breathing and pulse. Ulrich grabbed Odd's hand and said, even though he assumed Odd couldn't hear him, "Hang on, Odd. I know you can make it through this."

"I'm sorry, Ulrich," Odd said, even though his eyes didn't open. "I was wrong to yell at you and Yumi."

"Save your strength, Odd," Ulrich said. "Don't talk. I'll be right here."

"How is he?" Sissy begged her father as soon as he got off the phone with the hospital.

"He's weak, but stable," Mr. Delmas said. "They still have to find out if there was any internal damage and if so, how much. The beam may very well have crushed some of his organs, such as his intestine or kidneys…"

"Not Odd," Sissy said. "How is Ulrich."

"Sissy," Mardi yelled. "Ulrich has a broken leg. He'll be fine and walking again in six to eight weeks. Odd might not even live."

"Just because your boyfriend is a weakling…"

"First off, Odd is not my boyfriend," Mardi yelled. "Second, don't claim that Ulrich is yours; he's not nor is he interested. And finally, Odd is not weak. Let's drop a beam of that size on your stomach and see how perky you are afterward."

"Girls," Mr. Delmas yelled. "That is quite enough. I think it is time you both go to bed."

"It's only…" Sissy began.

"To your room," Mr. Delmas yelled. Both girls slowly stood and began toward the door. "Now!" They hurried their pace.

"Run, Aelita," Yumi yelled as she threw one fan as the attacking hornets. "To the tower." She caught her fan and began blocking the lasers again. One hornet took off after the running Aelita, but was quickly destroyed by one of Yumi's fans.

Aelita ran as quickly as she could, making sure she stayed in the ground and that no hornets were following her. As she approached the activated tower, the Scipazoa floated out from behind a tree. Aelita screamed as it wrapped its tentacles around her.

"Yumi!" Jeremie yelled. "The Scipazoa has Aelita. Hurry up."

"Right," Yumi replied. She blocked two more lasers from the two remaining hornets, and then threw both fans. Each fan hit its intended target. Yumi caught the fans and turned to rescue Aelita. After some seemingly pointless gymnastics as she approached the range where she could help Aelita, Yumi threw her fans again and cut the tentacles of the creature. It dropped the pink-haired girl and retreated, but to where, we don't see for some reason. Yumi and Aelita run to the tower and Aelita enters.

"What are you doing in here, young man?" a nurse asked Ulrich when she entered to check on Odd. "We've called your school and your physical education teacher is on his way to retrieve you. You are ready to return to school, but your friend needs his rest."

"I'm here just to make sure he was okay," Ulrich said.

"Out," the nurse said.

One of the machines in the room began beeping as Ulrich exited and the nurse looked worried. She grabbed the phone off the wall and dialed a number. "Get a doctor to room 105, stat."

Ulrich bit his lip, hoping Odd was going to be fine.

Aelita is floating upward in the tower.

"His condition has worsened," the doctor said.

"He's not stable anymore," another one said.

Aelita typed in the code.

"Return to the past now," Jeremie said as he hit an enter key.

White light spreads and there is the quick sound of a rewinding video.

Jeremie and Aelita cheered as Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich's band finished their song. Aelita began calling out, "Encore! Encore!"

"I think they are only allowed one song," Jeremie said.

"I know, Jeremie," Aelita said. "I was just displaying how wonderful they were. Encore! Please, encore!"

"Here we go," Mardi said as Sissy walked onto the stage once all the band equipment was off. "I hope she falls."

"Does she fall often?" Aelita asked.

"Only every time she tries to impress Ulrich," Mardi said.

"So it'll be a guarantee tonight?" Jeremie asked.

"Basically," Mardi said. "I'm going to sneak back stage to congradulate Odd and them. Would you two care to join me?"

"I'd love to," Aelita said.

"If it will save me from this torture, then why not," Jeremie said.

"Hey there," Yumi smiled. "How did we do?"

"I wanted an encore," Aelita said.

"Thumbs up," Jeremie said. "I didn't even pull out my computer."

"That good," Ulrich said, "I didn't think it was possible."

"Ulrich," Odd said. "You're forgetting who you are talking about."

"Well, I didn't think it was possible considering Odd was involved," Ulrich corrected himself.

Laughter erupted from the group.

"Good job," Mardi said. "Glad you made it through safe and sound."

"Just barely," Odd said.

That night, as Odd and Ulrich were settling in for a good nights sleep, Odd asked, "Wasn't Mardi's comment a little weird considering she couldn't have remembered the beams falling?"

"I think she meant mentally or emotionally," Ulrich said. "Like, we made it through without destroying the piece."

"I don't know," Odd said. "I really think that something about her makes her have a feeling of what really happened the first time around."

"Odd," Ulrich said.

"Yeah?"

"Cut it out for the night. I'm trying to get to sleep."

"Right." Odd turned out the lights.


	5. A Sickening Storm

# 5 A Sickening Storm

Sissy stormed into her room. She slammed the door closed and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Could you keep it down?" Mardi asked peeking her head out from under the covers. "I'm sick and tired still."

"Well, I'm sick and tired of him always turning me down," Sissy yelled, throwing objects around her and Mardi's room. "What does Yumi have that I don't?"

"Ability to control her temper," Mardi smiled. "Ow!" Sissy had thrown a book at Mardi. "Could you stop that?"

"No," Sissy yelled. "If you don't like it, why don't you leave?"

"I'm sick," Mardi yelled. "But if you don't stop that I will cough or sneeze on you." She grabbed a tissue and coughed a few times to prove her point.

"Fine," Sissy yelled. She turned around and ran out the door. Sissy kept running, down the stairs and out the door into the pouring rain. She stood in the rain and yelled at the top of her lungs.

She returned a few hours later, thoroughly soaked. She didn't change her clothes or dry off before falling into her bed and falling asleep. She coughed, having finally caught Mardi's cold.

The next morning, Mardi woke, feeling much better after a week of constant sneezing and coughing. She looked at Sissy, who, still asleep, looked like a mess. Mardi shook Sissy, trying to wake her, but Sissy would not wake.

"Wake up girl," Mardi said, lightly smacking Sissy's face.

"Go away," Sissy moaned. She began coughing, coughing on Mardi's arm before Mardi could pull it away.

"You cannot fake sick," Mardi said. She placed a hand on Sissy's forehead, and her mind went from thinking Sissy was playing sick to deciding to get Dorothy because Sissy _was_ sick. No doubt about it. Mardi could tell Sissy was burning with a fever.

"Jim," Mardi yelled walking into the halls, "where are you?"

"What is it, Delmas?" Jim asked.

"Sissy's sick," Mardi said. "She's got a burning fever."

"You get dressed and I'll get Dorothy," Jim said.

Mardi grabbed a T-shirt and jeans, but decided on a long sleeved shirt instead because her arm began to itch. Mardi waited in the room until Dorothy arrived, not exactly wanting to stay because Sissy was sick and Mardi was just getting better, but unable to leave because Sissy was family.

"We'll just see what her temperature is," Dorothy said, slipping the thermometer into Sissy's mouth. She waited a minute, checking Sissy's pulse and looking into Sissy's eyes, then looked at the thermometer. "101, woah. Sissy's really sick. Mardi, you go to class. I'll keep an eye on her."

Mardi nodded and walked away.

"Where's your evil cousin?" Odd asked as Mardi walked into the cafeteria.

"Sick in bed," Mardi said.

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Ulrich asked. "She happens to be sick on the day of an important history exam."

"No," Mardi said. "She's really sick. Fever of 101, coughing and wheezing."

"If her fever was 101, wouldn't she spontaneously combust?" Odd asked.

"Fahrenheit," Mardi, Jeremie, and Ulrich said in unison.

"I knew that," Odd laughd.

"Hey Jim," Yumi said during gym that day. "You look a little pale."

"I've been watching over… over… AHH CHOOOO!" Jim sneezed over half the students. "Sorry about that. I might be a little sick."

"A little sick?" William asked. "I'd be surprised if we all don't get sick."

"AHH CHOO!"

"Jim, maybe you should lie down," Yumi said. "You're not going to get better by yelling at everyone."

"No," Jim said. "I'm fine, now, you all, just run a few laps or something. I'm going to sit down here and just rest a little. AHH CHOO!"

"I'm running if just for the sake to not get sneezed on again," William said to Yumi.

"Jim shouldn't have gotten that sick that quickly," Yumi said.

William shrugged. "Maybe he got sick from someone else yesterday and is just feeling the effects now."

"That must be it," Yumi said, even though her gut instinct told her that was wrong. Something was seriously wrong.

"Overnight?" Aelita asked.

Mardi nodded. "We had this huge blow out last night because she was angry and throwing things and I was still sick. When she came back, she was soaking, as if she had been out in the rain for hours. And this morning, she hadn't moved an inch from where she fell in her bed last night. She was a total mess. Her make-up was smeared and her hair was completely knotted."

Aelita giggled a little. "A knot? Whatever is the world coming too?"

"I really don't think it's funny," Mardi said, not smiling. "I mean, I'm not her best friend, but I am her cousin."

She screwed up her face for a second to display her displeasure in Aelita's comment. Mardi turned to the board as their Literature teacher continued to talk about the latest section in the book that they had red for the night. Aelita noticed that Mardi was scratching her arm insistently. As the class continued, Mardi only stopped when she needed to write something in her notebook.

"Something wrong, Aelita?" Ulrich asked as the Lyoko gang sat down in the cafeteria for lunch. Aelita was staring at her food, moving it around her plate with her fork, but not eating it.

"I feel bad," Aelita said. "I upset Mardi."

"What did you say?" Jeremie asked.

"Well," Aelita took a breath as she thought about what she was going to say to them. "She was telling me how Sissy was sick and I giggled when she mentioned that Sissy was too sick to brush a knot out of her hair."

"Well," Jeremie began, but Odd cut him off.

"Sissy? With a knot in her hair? The end of the world is coming."

"Odd," Ulrich yelled, "it isn't funny. It sounds like Sissy is seriously sick. How would you like it if you were sick and people were laughing because you weren't insisting that you're not scrawny?"

"I'm not scrawny," Odd said pointedly. "I'm svelte."

"But you see his point?" Jeremie said.

"I do," Aelita said.

"I don't blame you Aelita," Jeremie said. "You are still learning about the world. You might have been underestimated how sick Sissy sounds. I'll put it in terms you understand. Sissy has a virus."

"That's horrible," Aelita said. "Could you write an anti-virus for her, Jeremie?"

"Not a computer virus," Jeremie said. "A living virus. Her body has an immune system to help her fight and she can also get medicine from a doctor to fight."

"Oh," Aelita understood. She looked down. "I still feel bad about what I said while talking with Mardi. I guess I still don't understand what it means to be family. I mean, Sissy and Mardi are always fighting, but Mardi still doesn't want Sissy to be sick."

"Well," Ulrich said, "family are people you love unconditionally, whether you like them or not, or if you're in good terms with them."

"So," Aelita said, "you guys are like my family?"

"If you want us to be," Jeremie said.

"That would be nice."

"You don't look so good, Jim," Mr. Delmas said. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I feel fine," Jim said. "It's just a head cold. It reminds me of the time I was a test subject for experimental drugs."

"You were a test subject for experimental drugs?" Mr. Delmas asked casting Jim a side glance. He cocked an eyebrow.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Jim said. "AHH CHOO." He pulled out a handkerchief and blew his nose. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Dorothy wanted me to take Sissy's temperature at least once every three hours to check progress."

"Right then," the principal said. "Move along."

"I'll be right back," Ulrich said. "I left my history book in my room."

Ulrich stood and made his way into the dorms, hoping Jim wouldn't see him. However, as he came out of his room, Jim found him.

"Stern," Jim's voice said. Ulrich turned to see Jim was carrying a passed out Dorothy in his arms. "Good, go get Sissy and bring her to the Infirmary."

"What's happening, Jim?" Ulrich asked.

"Sissy is very sick and now so is Dorothy," Jim said. "Sissy'll be passed out, so just carry her like I am carrying Dorothy."

"Is she contagious?"

"Stern! AHH CHOO."

"Right," Ulrich said. He walked to Sissy's room and saw the girl coughing weakly, even though she was asleep. He picked her up and carried her as quickly as he could to the Infirmary. When he got there, he put Sissy in the last remaining bed. Jim had taken one himself.

"Jim," Ulrich said. He shook the man's shoulder.

"I'm just… AH CHOO… resting for a minute, Stern," Jim said. "Go to class. I've got this handled."

"If you say so," Ulrich said and he walked out.

Mardi had stopped taking any notes halfway through science with Mrs. Hertz, which Odd knew was important to Mardi. In fact, Odd was beginning to think that Mardi wasn't even paying attention as she started blankly at the board. He noticed that she looked as if she was restraining herself, but from what, Odd had no idea.

"Are you okay?" Odd finally asked as Mrs. Hertz turned around.

"Absolutely fine," Mardi replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you're not taking any notes," Odd said. "And you have a look as if you haven't heard a word Mrs. Hertz has said."

"I'm just a little tired," Mardi said. "You know, I've been sick, and haven't been able to sleep properly. Not to mention Sissy came into the room at a ridiculous time last night."

Odd nodded, but cautiously. As Mardi's expression became blank, Odd began taking notes for her. At least that way she would have something to study off of.

"What are you doing, Odd?" Mrs. Hertz asked. "My class is not the time to write a script for one of your movies. It is a time to learn."

"I'm just taking notes," Odd said.

"You had better not be lying," Mrs. Hertz said as she approached him. She looked down to see he had copied what was on the board onto his paper. "Dear Lord, you are taking notes."

The class laughed as Mrs. Hertz wandered back to the front.

"Jim?" Mr. Delmas asked entering the Infirmary. "Dorothy? Are you two okay?"

"Sorry there, Sir," Dorothy said climbing out of the bed. "I've already called the replacement nurse. She'll be here in a few minutes. I'm just very sick. I think I caught your daughter's flu."

"How is Sissy?" Mr. Delmas asked.

"I'm about to take her temperature," Dorothy said, grabbing a thermometer. She stuck it in Sissy's mouth. She repeated this for Jim, who was now passed out on the bed.

After a minute, Mr. Delmas checked Sissy's temperature.

"I'll call an ambulance," Mr. Delmas said seeing his daughter's temperature was over 102 degrees.

"Good idea," Dorothy said. "You might need one for Jim and me too…" Dorothy couldn't finish her sentence as she passed out. Mr. Delmas caught her and placed her back on a bed. He then turned and found the nearest phone and dialed.

"Hello," he said. "This is the principal of Kadic Academy. We are going to need three ambulances for three very sick people."

"Do you hear an ambulance?" Jeremie asked Aelita as they walked out of science.

"I do," Aelita said.

They wandered toward the sound to see three ambulances taking Jim, Sissy, and Dorothy. One paramedic was talking to the principal. Mr. Delmas nodded, then turned and coughed. Jeremie noticed all the paramedics were wearing masks over their mouths and noses.

"I think it's time to check Lyoko," Jeremie said.

"I agree."

Jeremie pulled out his phone and called Yumi.

"Hello?" Yumi said. She sounded stuffed up and then she sniffled.

"We think that there is a need to go to the factory," Jeremie said. "Can you call Ulrich?"

"Sure," Yumi said.

"Are you sure you feel fine?" Odd asked Mardi. She was gripping her arm, and trying very hard to only grip it. Every once in a while, she would scratch it, but then she would only grip her arm harder to stop herself.

"I'm fine," Mardi said. She sat on the bench and began to scratch her arm absent-mindedly. Then the yelled quickly and gripped it tightly.

"Is something wrong with your arm?" Odd asked, reaching out for her hand.

"It's just itching a little," Mardi said, her cheeks turning slightly red.

"Let me see," Odd said.

Mardi looked at him, and then nodded. She slowly pushed her shirt sleeve up and revealed her arm. What was on it was nothing like Mardi expected. She thought that maybe, if she was lucky, there would only be scratch marks, but most likely, a rash. But, instead there looked what to be a bunch of small tattoos.

Odd recognized the symbol as XANA's. He snapped up straight when he saw it. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, his phone rang.

"I'll be right back," Odd said. He pulled out his phone and answered it. "Hello?"

"Odd," it was Jeremie, "we're going to the factory. We think XANA is attacking."

"He is," Odd said. "I'll be right there." He hung up and turned to Mardi. He looked sorry. "I'm sorry, but I have to go."

"That's fine," Mardi said. "I understand."

"Just go to the infirmary and Dorothy will probably know exactly what to do about that," Odd said. He quickly pecked Mardi's cheek with a kiss and ran off.

"The tower is in the forest region," Jeremie said. "It seems that XANA has a new program to block the Super Scanner. I'll send you there. Odd and Aelita first. Um… Yumi, Ulrich, are you two okay?"

"Fine," Ulrich said. "I just think that this flu thing is very…"

Yumi grabbed Ulrich's shoulder and turned him away from Jeremie, Odd, and Aelita as he sneezed.

"It's contagious," Yumi said sounding very stuffed up. She was alternating speaking with a severe case of sniffles. "And Sissy gave it to Jim, who sneezed on my whole class. I don't know how Ulrich got it."

"How did you get it, Ulrich?" Aelita asked.

"Jim had me carry Sissy to the Infirmary," Ulrich said. He turned around and sneezed again.

"Well, let's get a move on it," Jeremie said.

"Transfer Odd; transfer Aelita. Scanner Odd; Scanner Aelita. Virturalization."

Odd and Aelita landed in the forest region of Lyoko. A minute later, Yumi and Ulrich landed beside them.

"Wow," Yumi said. Her voice was clear again. "I feel so much healthier."

"Me too," Ulrich said.

"Well, that's good," Jeremie said, "because you have a few Kanklarats headed your way."

"I could use a little action," Ulrich said. "You three go on ahead and I'll take care of these guys. Oh, yoo hoo."

The Kanklarats all began shooting lasers at Ulrich, who was using his sword to block them. Aelita, Yumi, and Odd all turned and headed toward the activated tower.

"Triplicate," Ulrich yelled. The three Ulrich's each ran at a different Kanklarat and destroyed it. Just as that was done, a swarm of hornets appeared and took out two of the Ulrichs.

"Oh, no you don't," Ulrich said as he blocked the lasers with his sword. "Hey, Einstein, could I have a vehicle here?"

"Coming right up, Ulrich," Jeremie said. He typed a bit, and then said, "There you go. Hey, Odd, Yumi, your vehicles are just ahead of you."

"I see them," Yumi said. "Thanks a bunch."

"Hello?" Mardi asked, opening the door to her uncle's office. She heard coughing, but nothing else. She opened the door to see her uncle passed out at his desk and coughing hard. "Uncle, are you okay? Wake up."

He opened his eyes weakly. He smiled for a moment, then his eyes drooped closed again. He continued to cough. Mardi began to the Infirmary to get help from Dorothy.

"Hey, Dorothy… who are you?" Mardi asked walking in.

A squat lady turned to her. "Who am I? I am the lady here to make sure that you don't die of sickness."

Mardi pulled her sleeve down, not trusting the lady. "The principal is very sick," Mardi said. "He's passed out at his desk. I think he needs professional help."

"I am a professional," the lady said, pushing her way through.

Mardi waited until the squat lady was down the hall, then began going through the drawers and cabinets, looking for something to help her very strange rash.

"Ulrich, you're down to twenty life points," Jeremie said.

"That's all I need to take care of this guy," Ulrich responded. The Kanklarat shot a few lasers at Ulrich, hitting the vehicle, then Ulrich. However, Ulrich threw his sword at the remaining Kanklarat, piercing it at the same time as he got hit.

"There's a swarm of Hornets between you three and the tower," Jeremie said to Yumi, Odd, and Aelita.

"These guys are mine," Odd said as they came into view. He began shooting and led them away from Yumi and Aelita.

"The tower should be in view," Jeremie said.

"It sure is Einstein," Yumi said. "Just ahead."

Yumi pulled up next to the tower and Aelita jumped out. Just as she did, Odd was hit in the distance and devirtualized. Yumi flew off the fight the Hornets remaining.

"Ulrich?" Odd asked coming out of the scanner.

Ulrich only moaned.

Odd pulled Ulrich out of the scanner and with one of Ulrich's arms over his shoulders, began toward the elevator. By the time that the elevator opened to reveal a cheering Jeremie as Aelita deactivated the tower, Odd himself was feeling a little light headed.

"We win?" Odd asked.

"We sure did," Jeremie said.

"Good," Odd said dropping Ulrich, "Now launch a return to the past because this disease is most definitely deadly."

Jeremie looked at Odd and Ulrich, then nodded. He hit the proper code and a white light was released through the area, bringing them all to the past.

Sissy stormed into her room. She slammed the door closed and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Could you keep it down?" Mardi asked peeking her head out from under the covers. "I'm sick and tired… again."

"Well, I'm sick and tired of him always turning me down," Sissy yelled, throwing objects around her and Mardi's room. "What does Yumi have that I don't?"

Mardi rolled her eyes and pulled the blanket over her head. "Sleep on it," Mardi yelled after Sissy screamed again. "Just, don't get sick yourself."

Sissy looked at the bundle of Mardi with her hands on her hips. "What, no snide remarks? Lose your touch?"

"My head's all clouded," Mardi said. "Just go to sleep."

Sissy shrugged and grabbed a pair of pajamas as Mardi fell back asleep.

**Sorry about the wait, but I got a Code Lyoko block and a few great ideas for other stories… Not to mention homework. I promise to be a little quicker with the next few.**


	6. Major Problem

# 6 Major Problem

"The new computer lab is opening today," Jeremie said taking his usual seat at breakfast.

"And lucky us," Ulrich said sarcastically, "We get to be the first class to use it with Mrs. Hertz. What's the point of the research projects if she's just going to teach us everything we research anyway?"

"To learn on our own," Jeremie said.

"You never know," Odd said. "They might have some pretty cool computers in there."

"Because Lyoko is so lame?" Ulrich lifted an eyebrow.

"Hey, Boys," Aelita said sitting down.

"Hi, Aelita," Odd and Ulrich said in unison.

"Good morning, Aelita," Jeremie said. Odd and Ulrich both smiled and left the table. Just as Jeremie's face began to turn beat red, which Aelita didn't notice, Mardi took a seat with them.

"Mornin' ya'll," she said with a smile.

Jeremie sighed with relief.

"Now please," Mrs. Hertz urged, "Be careful. We don't have money to replace these _brand now _machines. Otherwise, begin your research on your assigned ecosystem."

"Is it me or does a lot of this remind you of the super computer?" Odd leaned to ask Ulrich.

"These are not partner projects, Odd," Mrs. Hertz yelled. "Do I have to move you?"

"No Ma'am," Odd said turning red.

Once she was out of hearing distance, Ulrich whispered back, "I've never seen half the items in here, but I feel like I'm in the scanner room. What do you think of the new lab, Jeremie?"

"These new computers run faster than mine," Jeremie marveled.

"Jeremie," Mrs. Hertz yelled.

"I was just suggesting a website to Ulrich for his research," Jeremie said.

"Very well," she said. "I'll be back in a moment. Don't try anything funny because I will find out." She walked out of the room and the class sighed with relief.

As soon as the door closed, however, the whole room sprang to life. The computers all broke apart and began to circle the room. Countless wires began connecting, causing little sparks as the joined. Everyone began screaming.

"XANA," Jeremie said as the wires finally stopped moving.

"I know what this is," Aelita said. "We're in a scanner. XANA's bring us all to Lyoko."

"But why would he bring us all there?" Ulrich asked. "It doesn't make sense for him to bring you there with your protection."

Aelita, however, was correct. The newly formed machine scanned them all and virtualized the whole class into Lyoko. Just like Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita, who took on their usual Lyoko identities, everyone was dressed in a new way and had weapons.

"What's happening?"

"Where are we?"

"What are we?"

"What happened to my clothes?"

Everyone was yelling and freaking out so loudly that Ulrich couldn't think. "Everyone, shut up!" Ulrich yelled. The talking ceased immediately. "No one is in any danger."

"How do you know?" one girl asked.

"Ulrich, we don't know exactly what's going on," Aelita said. "Before you tell them that, maybe I should try to figure out what XANA is up to."

"Right," Ulrich said. "Odd and I will escort you to a neutral tower."

"Don't forget about Jeremie," Odd said. "Einstein's got an axe, even if he's shorter."

Indeed, Jeremie was a head shorter than Odd, held an axe, and wore metal mesh. He looked like a beardless dwarf.

"I don't think you should both go," Jeremie said. "If a monster arrives, someone experienced in Lyoko should be here to take care of it."

"I'll stay," Odd said.

"Let's go then," Ulrich said. He, Aelita, and Jeremie began running in the direction of the closest tower.

"Where are they going?" Sissy demanded.

"To find out what's going on," Odd said.

"So you four know what's going on?" Sissy asked. She wore a short green dress, had a pair of wings, and held a spear. "You four and Yumi do have a secret, and this is it. What is this, and what happened to my clothes?"

"We do," Odd said. "This is Lyoko, Aelita's other home. We're in a super computer in the old, abandoned factory. Lyoko is controlled by a demonic artificial intelligence called XANA. XANA tried to take over the world, kill me, Jeremie, Ulrich, and Yumi, and tries to steal Aelita's memory through the use of a jellyfish monster called a Scipazoa. Only Aelita can deactivate the towers that allow XANA to do all that. However, we can't shut XANA down because of a virus implanted in Aelita. Any questions?"

"My clothes?" Sissy asked.

"Those are your battle clothes," Odd said. "Any other _real_ questions? Or are you just going to waste my time?"

"I've got a question," Herve said. He was dressed like a pirate carrying a pistol.

"Yes?" Odd asked

"What are those?" he asked pointing his gun to the side. Two Megatanks were approaching.

"Megatanks," Odd said. "Monsters. I haven't seen these in a while. Watch and learn. But, stand back. One his from a Megatank can devirtualize you." Odd began running on all fours at a Megatank, dodging the blast when it opened up. Before it could close again, Odd had shot a laser arrow into the eye and was attacking the second by the time the first exploded. After attacking the second one and destroying it, he turned back to the group to see a swarm of Hornets approaching them from behind. "Where's Yumi when you need here. Behind you all, I'm going to need some help. Be careful, they shoot lasers from their stingers."

"How, exactly, do you expect us to help?" Sissy asked, her hands on her hips and her head cocked slightly to the side.

"How about with the spear in your hand," Mardi said. Mardi was wearing Viking armor and held a round shield and sword.

"Just aim at the eye," Odd said.

"Anything useful?" Ulrich asked as Aelita returned from inside the neutral tower they had chosen.

"Only about half the class can be materialized the normal way," Aelita said. "And the rest will need to be materialized with the program Jeremie wrote for me." Aelita looked down. "Odd and Ulrich are safe, but Jeremie… you're not."

"We'll be extra careful with the dwarf," Ulrich said.

"But for now, let's return to the group and then get Aelita to the tower," Jeremie said.

"What took you three so long?" Odd asked when they finally returned. "While you were gone, we were attacked by eight Blocks, three _swarms_ of Hornets, two Megatanks, and ten Kanklarats. And considering they are all screaming, I'm assuming that something new is approaching."

"I'm saying that it is ten of everything but Creepers," Ulrich said. "And only one Scipazoa. How many arrows do you have left?"

"Only one," Odd said. "But you'd be surprised how much help they've been. Sure, both Herve the Pirate and Nicholas the Centaur have the worst aim in history, but Sissy the Fairy can actually fly, so that almost makes up for them."

"We've got a bit of a problem," Ulrich said. "For about half the class, losing their lifepoints would end up with the same result as Aelita."

"I hope Sissy's one," Odd said. Ulrich, Jeremie, and Aelita all glared at him. "But, we've got a few monsters to take care of."

"Looking for someone?" William approached Yumi in the courtyard.

"Not really looking," Yumi said. "Just waiting." Yumi sighed.

"For Ulrich?" William asked.

Yumi didn't answer. She knew the rest of her friends were in the new computer lab. Jeremie would be estatic about the new speed and technology. Odd would have downloaded music videos. Aelita and Ulrich would be the only two working, probably in the whole class.

But any moment now, they would be leaving for their next class.

Just on time, they all came out. Ulrich turned right toward them and stopped while standing over Yumi. He smiled at William for a moment, the reached for Yumi's hand. She smiled and allowed him to pull her off the ground.

"Could I have a moment with you alone?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi smiled. "Of course, Ulrich," she said. "I always have time for you."

Still holding her hand, Ulrich led her around the side of the building and into the park. Not checking to make sure they were alone, he kissed her. When he pulled back, Yumi was shocked.

"Just wanted to ask you to be my girlfriend," Ulrich said.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to ask me that," Yumi smiled.

"I think about as long as I've been working up the courage to ask you," Ulrich said. He took her face and kissed her once more. "So… is that a yes?"

"Of course," Yumi said.

They slowly ambled back into the courtyard, hand in hand.

When the bell rang for class again, Ulrich kissed her again, then ran to his own class.

"So…" William asked sitting in math. "Did he ask you out?"

Yumi only nodded.

"And did you say yes?"

She nodded again.

William nodded slowly and looked at the board.

"Don't you think Yumi should have realized that our whole class has disappeared by now?" Ulrich asked fending off a few Tarantulas.

"XANA might have created clones under his control so that no one becomes suspicious," Jeremie said.

"This XANA," Sissy began, "is it what causes you to disappear sometimes?"

"Well, it certainly doesn't just sit around and wait until we have free time to attack," Odd said shielding himself from the Blocks.

"Why aren't you shooting them any more?" Herve asked. He aimed his pistol at the Blocks, but missed all three shots.

"I only have a limited number of arrows," Odd said. Herve missed again. "Just give me that." Odd took the pistol from Herve and shot at the Blocks.

"Odd, behind you," Aelita yelled. Odd turned and shot at the Hornet just as it shot a laser at him. They both were hit, and that was the last of Odd's life points.

"Oh, God, no," Mardi yelled. "What's happened to him?"

"He'll be fine," Ulrich said.

"Wait, if we lose all our life points, we'll be fine?" Sissy asked.

"Not everyone," Ulrich replied. "Some will be fine, but some will be lost as information forever. Let's not find out the hard way, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," Mardi replied.

"How are you all getting along in there?" Odd asked when he reached the super computer.

"We could use Yumi's help," Jeremie said. "And a direction."

"Oh, yeah, the tower is north east of you all," Odd said. "And I'm texting Yumi now."

**XANA- Odd** appeared on the screen of Yumi's phone. She sighed and quickly wrote back to him.

**After class- Yumi**

After the bell rang, Yumi dodged through the crowd to find the rest of the Lyoko Gang. They were all sitting on a bench. She scrunched her nose and placed her hands on her hips while approaching.

"Not funny, Odd," she said. "Texting me saying that XANA was attacking. What if I had gone straight to the factory and missed class for nothing. We had an important lesson today."

"I couldn't help it," Odd said laughing. Ulrich punched him.

"So that's what you were doing in your lap," Aelita asked. Odd smiled a victory and nodded.

"Greatest prank ever," he announced.

"It wasn't funny at all," Yumi said.

"Let's go for lunch," Ulrich said, standing and taking Yumi's hand. Odd began whistling.

"Are we as cute as they are when we hold hands?" Yumi heard Aelita asked Jeremie. She smiled to herself. She and Ulrich were cute.

Odd looked at the time. In Lyoko, the group hadn't moved more than twenty steps closer to the tower. He couldn't help but wonder where Yumi was.

At the moment, he was listening very carefully as Jeremie told him exactly what needed to be done to materialize the vehicles for them. It was painfully boring, but after realizing that there was no way to get any of the students to a tower to be transported back safely without the vehicles, they decided to force Odd to help them in that way.

Odd hit the last of the keys Jeremie told him to and heard a few cheers as the vehicles much have appeared. On the screen, he could see Aelita jump on the overboard with Jeremie. Ulrich was on the Overbike and a girl. A boy and a girl were on the Overwing.

While they raced toward the closest neutral tower, Odd called Yumi. She had told him she would be there after class. He hoped she didn't mean after the whole day was over.

"Odd, what is it?" Yumi answered her phone.

"Where are you?" Odd asked. "You're needed in Lyoko."

"Odd, we already established this was a joke," Yumi said.

"We… no, that was one of XANA's things," Odd said. "And we _really, really_ need you in Lyoko. It is a major emergency. They've got the whole class there."

"Odd, you're whole class is in the cafeteria right now eating," Yumi said.

"They're XANA's things," Odd stressed. "Don't you trust me? Isn't anyone acting weird?"

"Aside from you?" Yumi asked.

"I'm not joking, Yumi," Odd said.

"Do you really expect me to believe you?" Yumi asked.

"A true friend would," Odd said.

"Well, a true friend wouldn't play jokes on one another or try to break up a lunch date," Yumi said.

"With William?" Odd asked. "You'll break Ulrich's heart."

"No," Yumi said, "you very well know it's not with William."

Next to her, Ulrich rolled his eyes. He took the phone from Yumi's hand and said, "Go away, Odd. It wasn't funny the first time, it's not funny now." He then snapped the phone closed.

"I'm off to get Yumi," Odd said into the mouth piece.

"Wait a few moments," Jeremie said. "Just wait long enough to bring me back, okay."

"I'll try, Einstein," Odd said. Odd noticed Jeremie enter a tower. Jeremie began to walk Odd through the process. Aelita was headed back the other way with Ulrich after having dropped off a few kids at the tower. The group had lost distance without Ulrich to lead them.

As lunch ended, Yumi pulled out her phone to call Odd. She almost felt bad for yelling at him. He could be immature, but he was her friend. She dialed his number as she saw him turned toward the gym. A few moments, she heard Odd answer, even though she could see that Odd hadn't picked up.

"Can't talk right now, Yumi," Odd said slowly as if he was concentrating.

"I'll be right there," she said.

She turned toward the park, but found that Sissy, Herve, and Nicholas were blocking her way. They all looked slightly demonic.

This complicated things.

Jeremie was relieved that he was back at the seat of the computer. It had been a dirty trick by XANA, to bring him to Lyoko with no one to bring him back, but XANA hadn't counted on Jeremie's excellent knowledge to lead Odd through the process. Odd had set off to find Yumi and bring her to the factory. Now, he had to start bringing his class back, one by one.

Sissy and Mardi were the only two non-Lyoko members still fighting the last of the monsters. They were down to a few Hornets. Sissy was flying after them, trying to chase them to the ground where Mardi could attack as well.

However, as the Hornets flew low and towards Mardi, they began shooting. Mardi had discovered that she could block shots with her sword, but all four Hornets were shooting and she couldn't move her sword fast enough. She felt herself get hit a few times.

"Careful, Mardi," Jeremie's voice came. "You're loosing life points way too quickly."

"Like I'm doing this on purpose," Mardi said.

As the Hornets flew past her, she swung her sword and struck one, destroying it. Sissy threw her spear and destroyed another of the Hornets. That left two, one for each of them.

In the distance, Ulrich and Aelita were returning from dropping off a few more of the students. It was freaky that this wasn't fazing them at all. Mardi dropped her defenses a moment to watch, and ponder how they were so calm.

"Mardi," Sissy's shrill voice screamed, "Watch out."

Mardi felt a laser hit her, and looked down to see her fingers disappear. She had lost all her life points.

"Mardi," Aelita's voice yelled out in worry.

"Is Mardi alright?" Aelita begged Jeremie for an answer.

"I don't know," Jeremie said. "I'm still virtualizing people. I'll send someone to check if she made it back or not."

"How can you be so calm about it?" Aelita asked. "Mardi might be dead."

"Don't get upset, Aelita," Jeremie said. "You need to concentrate. I think it's time that Ulrich escorted you to the activated tower so you can shut it down. By that time, I'll have transported everyone else here and I can bring you back as well."

Aelita nodded.

"Come on, Sissy," Ulrich said. "You and I are…" From the side, a blast destroyed the Overbike and Ulrich. A Megatank.

"Another one of those?" Sissy asked. She had just destroyed the last of the Hornets and was in no mood to attack a Megatank.

"Hurry, Sissy," Aelita yelled. "We have to get to the tower. Don't let it hit you."

"You have class, Ishyama," a clearly demonic Sissy said. "Where are you going?"

"She's with me," Odd said from behind and jumping on the evil Sissy.

After kicking Herve and Nicholas out of the way, Odd and Yumi ran to the sewer.

"Sorry about not believing you, Odd," Yumi said as they skate boarded through the sewer. They could hear XANA on their heels.

"That's alright," Odd said. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I would have believed me. From the sound of it XANA Odd made it out to be a joke. Pretty lame, if you ask me."

"I'm going to kill Ulrich," Jeremie said as he watched as Sissy and Aelita flew away from the Megatank. He only had a few more students to bring back.

"Jeremie," Ulrich asked from behind. "Would you tell Aelita that Mardi's fine. She made it back."

"Right away," Jeremie said. He relayed the message and Aelita's movements immediately became more relaxed and better executed. However, he still had to worry that her only protection from a Megatank was Sissy.

"The Scipazoa is back," Jeremie said as it appeared on the screen. "Make sure Aelita is safe, alright, Sissy?"

"I'll try my best," Sissy said. "But no promises. I'm new at this."

Jeremie heard a few voices behind him and sighed. "Ulrich," Odd yelled, "you and me have got to fight off an army of XANA clone classmates."

"I'm off to the Scanner Room, Jeremie," Yumi said.

"Good," Jeremie said. "Sissy and Aelita could use your help." Just saying that felt more than weird to Jeremie. Sissy, in Lyoko.

Yumi landed in Lyoko, on her Overwing. That was a first. She saw the Megatank after Aelita and Sissy and began to race after them.

Just as she was close enough to attack, the Megatank opened up and shot. She jumped off the Overwing and threw her fans, striking the eye before it could close.

"Thanks, Yumi," Aelita yelled.

"Sissy," Yumi yelled, "Go to the tower that way to get virtualized my Jeremie. I've got it from here."

"Thank god," Sissy said and turned off, flying in the opposite direction. Yumi ran along the ground, just under Aelita.

Aelita landed and waited for Yumi to get rid of the Scipazoa before entering the tower. Yumi sighed as she waited for the return to the past. She had been such a fool to think that the real Ulrich would ask her out. That should have been a sign, right there.

A white light engulfed the area just on time. The XANA clones had just broken in and were about to attack Jeremie, but Aelita had come through, just as she always does. They all returned to the past, once again.

"Anyone else up for not going to the lab?" Odd asked.

"Is there any way to avoid it?" Aelita asked.

"I can think of a way or two to avoid it," Odd said, an evil smile taking over his lips.

As the four headed for the computer lab began to trudge onward, they noticed that the lights all flickered, then went out. There had had just been a power outage in the Science building, but none of the others. Mrs. Hertz stumbled out and looked through the entrance.

Odd looked to the side of the building to see Mardi climb out of a window in the building. She had a pair of wire cutters in her hand, but she quickly threw that into her bag, which had been hidden on the ground.

"I guess we can learn about ecosystems first hand today," Mrs. Hertz finally decided as Jim approached the building with a tool kit.

Odd fell into step next to Mardi. "Never suspected you to be one to cut the power of a building to avoid a stupid project," he whispered to her.

Mardi looked at him slyly and laughed. "As long as you don't tell my secret I won't tell yours," she said.

Odd stopped walking. He couldn't figure out what secret Mardi was talking about. There was no possible way she knew about Lyoko. Even if he had suspected it at first, there was no possible way she could have known. Jeremie had explained to him the reason they all could remember the return to the pasts and others couldn't. She wasn't in the factory when they had activated the Super Calculator, she lived in America.


	7. Heartbreak

# 7 Heartbreak

"XANA has activated a tower," Jeremie opened his laptop, sitting with Odd and Aelita in the park. The three stood up and ran to the clearing in the park with the entrance to the sewer. They traveled through the sewers and to the factory.

A XANA possessed William approached Yumi by the Kadic gates. Ulrich watched suspiciously from a distance.

"Hello, William," Yumi said smiling at the boy. "You look oddly cheery today. Any special reason?"

Without a word, William pulled Yumi into his arms and kissed her passionately. Ulrich's heart dropped as Yumi did not push William away and slap him. William snaked his unworthy arms around Yumi's waist.

When William pulled away, Yumi stood stock still, too shocked to comprehend what had just happened. When her phone rang, she was still too dazed to do anything remotely intelligent, such as answer it even.

When Ulrich's phone rang, he was already back in his dorm. He threw his phone on his bed and picked up a soccer ball. Ignoring the ringing machine, he walked out to the soccer field and began shooting goals, quite violently.

"They're not answering," Odd said reaching the scanner room.

"Then you'll have to survive without them," Jeremie said. "Transfer Odd; transfer Aelita. Scanner Odd; scanner Aelita. Virtualization." Odd and Aelita landed in Lyoko, prepared for battle. "The activated tower is fifteen degrees north of… Hey, that's weird. XANA just deactivated the tower."

"Oh no," Odd said in a panic. "Not this again. Remember last time XANA did this? Yumi almost froze to death under a tree. Yoo Hoo, XANA. You already tried this one. Get some new material and just let us rest for once."

"What if XANA achieved his objective already?" Aelita inquired. "What if he decided to stop while he's ahead." A panicked look took over her eyes and her voice rose and got a little high in fear. "Jeremie, you have to get a hold of Yumi and Ulrich."

"Already on it," Jeremie said. "In the mean time, get to a tower so I can devirtualize you." Aelita and Odd began towards the closest tower.

"Hello?" Yumi heard her brother, Heroki, answer the phone when she waked into the house. "Is this Ulrich? Oh… let me check." The talking stopped for a moment, the Heroki yelled, close to Yumi's ear, "Yumi, phone for you." Her brother held the receiver toward her.

"Hello?" Yumi asked.

"Oh, good," Jeremie's relieved voice rang from the other end. "XANA is acting strangely. He just activated and deactivated a tower."

"Again?" Yumi asked apprehensively. "Should I be worried? I probably should get to the factory, I guess."

"Not just yet," Jeremie said. "Odd, Aelita, and I are about to leave. We'll call you if we go back though. Talk to you later."

"Bye," Yumi said and hung up. She wondered why he had called her house and not her cell. She pulled out her cell to see she had a missed call from Odd. She took a step toward her room, but looked at her cell phone again. She then dialed Ulrich. "No answer."

"Who didn't answer?" Heroki asked. "Ulrich?"

"Go away, Heroki," Yumi yelled.

"There's Ulrich," Aelita said. "He doesn't look too happy."

"He's just blowing off steam," Odd said. "Something must have pissed him off, not like that's too hard to do."

"XANA?" Aelita asked.

Behind them, Milly and Tamiya were talking, and a little too loudly. "And then William just grabbed Yumi and kissed her. It was rather cute."

"I doubt it was XANA," Jeremie said.

"Hey, Mardi," Odd called out, running up to her. "How are you?"

"I'm," Mardi hesitated, "alright, I guess. Yourself?"

"I'm good," Odd replied. "I was wondering, want to go into town for dinner? I knew this really nice diner, and it's such a nice night. And the cafeteria is serving mystery meat, which is never a good sign."

"I can't," Mardi said. "I have stuff to do."

"Well," Odd said, looking at her through the side of his eye. "What kind of stuff? Maybe I could help? I'd love to."

"You really wouldn't be interested," Mardi said.

"I wouldn't mind helping," Odd said turning to look at her full on. Something was fishy, and even Odd could sense it.

"Really, Odd," Mardi said. "You can't help. It's complicated."

"Are you hiding something from me?" Odd asked, trying, but not succeeding, not to sound accusing.

"No."

"What do you mean 'no'?" Odd couldn't help himself from yelling. "You have 'stuff' to do, but can't tell me… you're seeing someone else. I can't believe you, Mardi."

"I'm not seeing anyone else," Mardi said. "Tonight's not a good night for me, that's all. Maybe I just want some time to myself."

"Are… you…" Odd could hardly make out the words. "Breaking up with me?" His heart was growing heavier by the second.

"How can I break up with you if we're not even going out?" Mardi yelled. She took a calming breath, then said, in a sad tone, "I need to be alone now, Odd."

Mardi turned around and ran into the dorms. She looked back for a moment when she reached the doorway, her body shuddered in a sob, and then she continued onward. Odd stood in the courtyard a few more minutes before retreating back to his own room.

He reached his room, walked in, and fell onto his bed face first without bothering to close the door. Ulrich's phone rang on the other bed, but Odd ignored it. No one wanted to talk to Odd, it was all about Ulrich.

"Hey," Ulrich said, walking in and slamming the door. "What's your problem?"

Odd mumbled unintelligently into his pillow. Odd lifted his head after his unheard explanation. "What's wrong with you?"

"William and Yumi," Ulrich growled.

"It hurts," Odd said. "It actually hurts."

"Yeah," Ulrich said, kicking off his cleats and pulling out his night clothes. "It really does."

Later that night, XANA activated a tower. From an outlet in Odd and Ulrich's room, two black ghosts appeared and entered Odd and Ulrich's bodies.

"Morning you three," Aelita smiled at the three boys when they sat down to breakfast. "Mardi was just here, Odd. She, uh, told me what happened between you two last night. You know, it's never too late to fix it."

"Who says I want to fix it?" Odd spat.

"That bad?" Jeremie asked looking up from his food.

"That bad," Odd said, grinding his teeth. "If not worse."

Both Ulrich and Odd seemed to be in a bad mood. Even Sissy got the message to not bother them before she even opened her mouth. After only a second of stopping near their table, she took a step back and hurried away.

As usual, they met Yumi after class and sat on one of the benches in the yard. After only a few moments, Ulrich stood and left.

"What's was that about?" Yumi asked, furrowing her eyebrows. She wondered if Ulrich had seen William kiss her yesterday. She hoped he hadn't. What had been really weird was that William didn't seem to have any recollection, whatsoever, of kissing her. She had asked him all day about it, but finally stopped when he asked her if she was trying to send him a hint.

"He's just been grouchy all day," Aelita said.

Jeremie's computer began to beep. "XANA's attached but… that's weird. He attacked during the night but my computer is only picking it up now."

"Let's not waste anymore time then," Yumi said standing.

"I'll get Ulrich," Odd said.

Odd and Ulrich met in the dorm halls. They looked at each other and nodded, XANA's symbol flashing in their eyes.

As they walked into the courtyard, Sissy approached the two. "Ulrich, I was wondering, since we have such a difficult history test tomorrow…" Odd swung an arm and Sissy was flung back ten feet, landing in some bushes.

"What was that about, Odd?" Mardi yelled.

Odd turned to face Mardi, his eyes flashing XANA's symbol again. Mardi's eyes grew large and she stumbled backward.

"It's possessed you, hasn't it?" Mardi asked.

Ulrich continued toward the factory while Odd smirked and nodded. "You made it happen, Mardi," Odd said.

Ulrich caught up to Aelita, Jeremie, and Yumi as they began climbing the ladder. They suspected nothing so far.

"Where's Odd?" Aelita asked.

"He's going to speak with Mardi," Ulrich replied truthfully.

"You three go straight to the scanner," Jeremie said. "I'll have your vehicles there when you get there."

"Sounds good," Yumi said.

We all know this is where a commercial would be inserted. So… commercial break.

Okay, I've had my fun. Break over.

Upon landing in Lyoko, they were already surrounded by Hornets and Tarantulas. All the monsters turned toward Yumi and began firing.

"Why are they all ganging up on me?" Yumi asked Jeremie.

"I don't know," Jeremie replied. "You're already down to twenty life points."

"Ulrich, help," Yumi cried.

"Good idea," Ulrich said. In slow motion, he pulled out his sword and delivered the final blow to Yumi.

"Ulrich," Jeremie yelled. "What's your problem?"

"He must be possessed by XANA," Aelita said. "XANA has become much more powerful than we imagined."

"Get out of there, Aelita," Jeremie yelled.

Aelita jumped onto the Overwing and began to fly away. Ulrich jumped onto the Overbike to follow.

"Oh, no," Jeremie said. He punched a few keys and devirtualized the Overbike. "Aelita, get out of there. I'm going to see if Yumi is ready to go back."

"Sorry Einstein," Yumi said, walking out of the elevator. "I'm too exhausted. I don't think my body could handle another trip to Lyoko today."

"We're waiting on Odd, Aelita," Jeremie announced. "Don't let Ulrich push you where you don't want to go. He'll try to take you to the Scipazoa."

"Stop it, Odd," Mardi yelled, dodging behind a tree.

"I never pictured Odd to be violent when his heart gets broken," Milly said to Tamiya, who snapped a picture.

Odd turned to the two young girls, grabbed the camera, and smashed it. The two girls huddled together and screamed.

"Odd, no," Mardi threw a rock at his head. He began chasing her, knowing that if he didn't, she would tell Jeremie.

"Use that tower to get to the ice region," Jeremie instructed Aelita. "Ulrich has the least control there."

"Jeremie," Aelita said cautiously as the Hornets began shooting at her, hoping to prevent her from making it to the tower.

"Hurry, Aelita," Jeremie yelled. "Ulrich's catching up to you."

"Odd's not answering his phone," Yumi said, snapping hers closed in frustration. "I'm going to find him."

"Just hurry," Jeremie pleaded. He turned back to the computer. "Aelita, what are you doing? I told you to go to the ice region."

"The Hornets are blocking my path," Aelita said.

Mardi remembered having followed Odd once to the factory, that that was where she was headed. She decided that it was better to stay above ground, not to mention she didn't want to spoil her good boots in the sewer water.

She pounded down the road, making sure she didn't slow down for anything. However, just as she got in sight of the factory, Odd caught up to her and tackled her to the ground.

Mardi struggled to throw Odd off her as he pinned her to the ground. He took both of her wrists in one hand and straddled her. With his free hand, he took Mardi's face for a moment and stroked it. His hand then down her neck and over her chest, coming to a rest on her stomach.

"How about now?" Odd asked. "Bet you wish you had accepted that dinner date now." He took her face in his hand again and pushed on her cheeks, forcing her lips to pucker. But, before he could bend down and kiss her, she turned her head and bit his hand. Then, before he could react to that pain, she kneed him in the groin several times and kicked him off her.

Scrambling to her feet, she began sprinting again. In the distance she could see Yumi emerge from the factory.

"Yumi," Mardi yelled. "Yumi, over here." She knew that Odd would be recovering just about now.

"Can't talk right now," Yumi yelled, obviously nervous about something and trying to hide it from Mardi. "I have to find Odd."

"XANA's possessed him," Mardi yelled, coming to the bridge. She stopped a moment while Yumi froze and looked at her.

Mardi saw Yumi mutter something along the lines of 'him too?' Mardi knew that it also had Ulrich. Before she could move again, Odd had both his arms wrapped around here and began squeezing her tightly. Mardi thought her bones were going to be crushed.

Yumi ran up to them and punched Odd. Odd dropped the blonde girl and turned to right the Japanese.

"Get out of here, Mardi," Yumi said.

Mardi nodded and ran to the factory.

"Turn around, Aelita," Jeremie said, nervous as the pink-haired girl tricked a few Hornets into flying into a mountain peak. She had managed to get out of the desert finally, but Ulrich was still hot on her heels using his super sprint.

Jeremie heard the elevator doors open. "Odd, it's about time," Jeremie said.

"It's not Odd," Mardi said. "He's been possessed by XANA as well as Ulrich."

Jeremie turned to look at her, surprised that she even knew this. She looked pretty shaken, but she had come.

"Do you…"

"Remember going back in time?" Mardi asked. She nodded. "But, Yumi's outside, keeping Odd out there, and I assume that you could use a little help in Lyoko. I'm prepared to fight."

"Go down to the scanner room and step in one," Jeremie said. He turned back to the screen and said, "If you can get to the ice region, I think we can defeat Ulrich. I'm sending help."

"Odd's finally arrived?" Aelita asked.

"In a way," Jeremie said. He saw Odd and Yumi fighting on the bridge.

Aelita ditched the last of the Hornets and flew into the tower where they couldn't follow her. She reappeared in the ice region. However, Ulrich could follow her here. She wasn't in the ice region for more than a few seconds before Ulrich's sword hit the Overwing and Aelita dropped to the ground.

She crawled backward and Ulrich approached. A figure appeared above Aelita, but she took little notice. When it finally dropped, Ulrich was under it. Finally, Aelita realized it was not Odd, but Mardi. Mardi pushed off Ulrich and turned to face him as he stood.

Mardi's metal armor didn't slide on the ice as Ulrich's shoes did, giving her a slight advantage. Ulrich charged, but Mardi blocked his sword with her own. When Ulrich took a swing at her left side, she blocked herself with her round, metal shield.

"Now is as good a time as any to make your escape," Mardi said without turning her head. She fought like an expert.

Aelita nodded, dumb founded, and got back up. She began running, hoping that Ulrich would stay occupied. She reached another tower and entered.

"The Overboard will be waiting for you when you get back to the desert region," Jeremie announced.

Aelita smiled, jumping on it as soon as she was out. She began flying top speed toward the activated tower.

"Mardi, you could have taken him out," Jeremie said as he noticed Mardi take a few steps back, allowing Ulrich to gain his balance.

"But then he would be _your_ problem," Mardi said. "And, if I assume correctly, he'd… how to word it… kick your butt."

Jeremie thought a moment, and then concluded, "You learn fast."

"You have to if you want to live in my family," she said. "Plus, if all goes according to plan, Aelita should be ridding him of the blasted possession any moment now. Not to mention my pent up anger at Odd."

"Why are you taking it out on Ulrich then?" Jeremie asked.

"Because, I feel like it," Mardi said.

Jeremie chuckled. That was a good enough reason for him.

Aelita stepped into the activated tower and was brought up to the screen. She opened it and typed in her name. Finally, it asked for the code and she typed in **Lyoko**. All the screens lining the walls of the tower began to drop.

Odd was holding Yumi over the edge of the bridge with one hand, when all the strength left him. He almost dropped her, but managed to catch her wrist as she fell. He pulled her up and over.

"Aelita did it," Yumi said, not trying to stand from her collapsed position on the ground.

"What happened?" Odd asked.

"XANA used you as a puppet," Yumi said, still not attempting to move.

"What did I do?" Odd asked.

"Aside from try to kill me?" Yumi asked light-heartedly. "You'd better ask Mardi."

Odd felt a pang of hurt from that. Now there was no way that she would ever forgive him if he hurt her. "How am I going to explain this to her?"

"I don't think it'll be half as hard as you think it will," Yumi said, finally pushing herself off the ground. She started toward the factory.

"Mardi?" Ulrich asked dropping his sword.

She relaxed. He was himself again. No reason to continue to beat up on him.

"You, Ulrich, are one good fighter," Mardi said. "I for one, am glad that we were on ice, or you would have killed me a hundred times over."

"But why are…"

"Am I here in Lyoko?" she asked. "Well, after XANA possessed you and Odd, someone had to save the day, and that might as well have been me."

"Both of us?" Ulrich asked. "But, he couldn't last time he tried."

Mardi could only shrug to that.

"So you've known this whole time?" Yumi asked.

"Well, only after Odd said something different from what he had said originally did I know that you guys were involved," Mardi explained. "Back in New Orleans, when time rewound itself, no one acted differently."

"How long have you known about XANA?" Jeremie asked.

"Officially? Since he took the class into Lyoko. Unofficially, since everyone got really sick and he infected my arm."

"Does this mean that you're part of the gang now?" Aelita asked happily. She and Mardi turned to the rest of the gang.

Jeremie, Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich all nodded in approval, though Odd did it very timidly.

"Well, we have some damage patrol back at school," Jeremie said, standing. He entered the elevator along with Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich. Odd was about to enter too, but Mardi asked him to stay back for a moment.

Once the elevator had closed, Odd looked at Mardi. "Whatever I did to you while I was under XANA's possession, I had no control over, and I'm very sorry about it," Odd said hurriedly. He took a deep breath and finally looked up to meet Mardi's eyes.

"I know, Odd," Mardi said. "I guess I owe you an explanation about the other night." She sighed and looked at him. "Back in New Orleans, my best friend was killed in a hurricane," she said. "And, last night was her birthday, so, I was…"

"Grieving?" Odd asked.

"That's a good word for it," Mardi smiled. "And about the whole can't break up with you if we're not going out…"

Odd looked down. "You don't want to go out with me."

"Actually, it was a message," Mardi said. "A poorly delivered one, but the point was for you bring me a dozen roses and a box of chocolates and ask me out." She smiled, "I just wanted it to be official. But now that you know…"

Odd reached out and took her hand. "Will you be my girlfriend, Mardi Delmas?"

She smiled and squeezed his hand. "I thought you'd never ask," Mardi said. They began toward the elevator. "Oh, and Odd," she said right before it opened.

"Yeah?" Odd asked, looking at her.

She slapped him quickly.

"What was that about?" Odd asked loudly.

"That's for what you did while being possessed by XANA," Mardi said. She smiled and looked at Odd. His face began to blush.

"So," Aelita asked the next morning. "Any conclusions as to how XANA could take over their bodies now?"

Jeremie shook his head.

"I have one," Mardi said. "While XANA was controlling Odd, he said something along the lines of I made XANA possess him. And, while I certainly didn't force XANA to do anything, it might have been that the boys were emotionally weakened." Mardi took a bite of the pancakes she had. After she swallowed, she realized that they were all staring at her.

"What?" She asked.

"You mean that you knew they were both emotionally distressed?" Jeremie asked.

"Well, it was hard to walk past Ulrich at the soccer field and not realize that something had pissed him off," Mardi said. "Not to mention that everyone was talking about William and Yumi."

"I'd forgotten about that," Ulrich said, rolling his eyes.

"Wait," Aelita said. "What if XANA had possessed William just long enough to kiss Yumi?" The others looked at her. "Yumi said that William couldn't remember kissing her at all, and we wondered if XANA had achieved his objective with the tower he deactivated himself. What if his objective was to have Ulrich see William and Yumi kiss?"

"That's brilliant," Jeremie said. "And he planned to take Ulrich…"

"But Odd was distressed too, so might as well possess him too," Aelita said.

"And somehow it all leads back to girls," Ulrich laughed. "Anyway, I have to go do something." He stood and the others all smiled at one another.

"Yumi?" Ulrich asked timidly as she walked through the school gates that morning. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see William approaching.

"Yes?" Yumi asked.

Ulrich quickly kissed her.

Yumi smiled as he told her he had to get to class to study for a history test.


	8. The Column

**Sorry for the huge wait, but I've been working on other fics for different shows. Anyway hope you enjoy and review. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, but no promises.  
**

* * *

# 8 The Column

"So, do you think it's true?" Milly asked Tamiya. The two girls turned to look at one another, but Tamiya made sure to keep the camera on her targets. Slowly, the girls' lips spread into large smiles. It didn't matter if it was true because if, for only a moment, it just looked true, that made it more than true.

"This is gold," Tamiya said. She turned the flash off her camera and snapped a few shots.

"We can have it written by tomorrow's paper," Milly said. "We've been waiting for this story all term."

The two girls ran toward their room to begin their gossip column.

Yumi heard a rustle in the bush behind her. She knew what it looked like between her and William. Why wouldn't Ulrich have followed the two of them around the shed? This was what she had been hoping he would do.

She only hoped that he finally got a clue and asked her out.

Mardi and Aelita stood in the bathroom, staring into the mirror. They both frowned at what they saw. It was way too early in the morning for them to actually be awake, considering it was only 4:30.

"Remind me to smack Odd," Aelita said finishing off with a yawn.

"A bat," Mardi sighed. "It was a bat, not a XANA controlled mouse. But, as long as we're awake, we might as well take over the bathroom before Sissy. I didn't have time to turn her alarm clock off last night, so she'll be here in half an hour. Are all French morning people?"

Aelita shrugged.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, the two girls were already dressed and headed for breakfast, ready to start the day. Just as they walked into the cafeteria, surprised that there were a few kids there already, the weekly student newspaper was set out in its usual basket. Mardi grabbed an issue, just to check it out. And, it could always be used to smack Odd over the head with.

"Well," Mardi mused as her eyes skimmed down a column of the newspaper. "That's either false or Yumi has really been hiding something from us. It doesn't look like a Photoshop picture."

Aelita looked at her companion curiously. "What about Yumi?"

"According to Milly and Tamiya," Mardi began. "'Our reporters have witnessed the blossoming of many relationships over the past term, but none so romantic nor as long awaited as the coming together of Yumi Ishiyama and William Dunbar. It is in our opinion that this may be the first relationship all term that will last past the graduation of the two involved, and possibly into a marriage.' Yada, yada, yada. 'Our reporters would like to wish the new couple a happy time together and hope that this relationship will inspire others.'"

"Ulrich's not going to be happy," Aelita said.

"Is he ever?" Mardi asked setting the paper down.

"Good morning girls," Jeremie said taking a seat next to Aelita. "Anything interesting in the paper this morning?"

"Only if you count Yumi and William officially hooking up interesting," Mardi said tossing the paper to Jeremie.

"Don't you think it's strange that Yumi would have done that and not told any of us?" Aelita asked.

"Ulrich's not going to be happy," Jeremie mentioned.

"Dear me, dear me," Mardi said laughing out loud. "You two are definitely made for one another."

The two looked at her, but before they could inquire, Sissy was laughing loudly and claiming that her dream was finally about to come true.

"Somebody had better go on damage patrol," Mardi said after glancing at her cousin. "I'll keep her occupied while you keep Ulrich calm and tell him what happened."

"Too late," Aelita said as Sissy ran out the door to find Ulrich.

"Sissy," Mardi called and chased after her cousin. "Wait a moment, girl."

Odd walked in a minute later and looked slightly hurt. "What's wrong, Odd?" Aelita asked.

"I just passed by Mardi, but she completely blew me off as she tried to get to Sissy," Odd said and sighed sadly.

"She's just trying to make sure that Sissy doesn't show Ulrich the newspaper," Jeremie said, shoving the paper at Odd. "Or terrible things might happen if we're not around to keep him thinking rationally."

"Except he never thinks rationally," Odd said.

"Oh, here he comes," Aelita said as Ulrich walked through the doors.

"And he doesn't look at all mad," Jeremie said. "In fact, he looks kind of happy."

"He hasn't heard yet," Odd stated. Milly and Tamiya ran past their table with their camera and microphone toward Ulrich.

"This is Milly here, with the Kadic News. I am getting an exclusive interview with Ulrich Stern, long time admirer of Yumi Ishyama and most likely the best looking boy on campus," Milly said toward the camera in Tamiya's arms. She turned to Ulrich and asked, "How does it feel to know Yumi picked William over you?"

"What?" Ulrich asked loudly.

"Yesterday, Yumi and William secretly kissed in the bushes behind the shed," Milly said. "An official sign that they are going out. Our audience wants to know what you are going to do now that Yumi is taken. Is there another girl in mind that you would date? Possibly someone who you think is pretty and nice?"

"I, uh…" Ulrich just peered around for something to help him understand. Finally, he spotted the newspaper, and snatched a copy, quickly skimming the article. He shook slightly with anger and threw the copy to the ground. He looked down to see only Yumi's smiling face after William had just pulled away from what had to be a kiss. "There is something I'd like to do," he finally said.

"Oh, no," Odd said. "That can't be good."

Ulrich made his way outside, Milly and Tamiya trailing him. Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita were not far behind him. No one knew where he was going until they saw Sissy and Mardi talking. Ulrich was heading straight for them.

"Morning, Ulrich," Mardi said as she saw Sissy's face brighten up.

"Yeah, whatever," Ulrich said, walking right past her. Ulrich walked up to Sissy and kissed her deeply. He ran his hands through her hair and pulled her close.

"This is _amazing_!" Milly said giving the camera several glances. "We have just witnessed the coming together of yet another couple in two days."

"I can't believe I'm getting this on camera," Tamiya said.

"It would seem that Ulrich Stern, Kadic's best looking boy, and Sissy Delmas, the principal's daughter, are giving Yumi Ishiyama and William Dunbar a run for the most exciting new campus couple."

"Hi," Odd said coming between the girls and the kissing couple. "May I ask if either of you actually asked either Yumi or William if they were a couple, or did you just assume after spying on them in the bushes?"

"Uh…" the girls looked at one another.

"And, aren't you a news station? Not a Kadic's number one gossip show," Mardi asked, coming up behind Odd.

"This is news!" Milly exclaimed.

"No," Mardi said. "The weather and the crime rates are news. Who's macking who is gossip. And gossip is an evil little thing that hurts. How do you think Ulrich felt when he read that Yumi was dating William from the newspaper before Yumi spoke to him about it?"

"Where'd Ulrich go?" Milly asked.

"To blow off steam," Jeremie said.

"In that case, we have to go," Tamiya said. "There are other stories going we have to report."

As the girls walked off, the four friends all turned to one another. "Where'd Ulrich really go?" Mardi asked.

"To blow off steam," Jeremie said. "Of course, he did have time to ask Sissy to be his official girlfriend. Now, someone needs to tell Yumi before Sissy does."

"I vote Aelita," Mardi said. "Yumi likes her the most, plus, she wouldn't dare hurt her."

Aelita looked at Jeremie. "I don't want to do it alone," she said. Jeremie sighed, giving in to Aelita's pleas.

Ulrich and Yumi refused to look at each other while in Lyoko later that day. In fact, Odd, Aelita, and Mardi had to walk between so they wouldn't kill one another.

"Are you sure that you're not going to hurt one another in Sector 5?" Jeremie asked. "Because if you don't think that you can get along, I can bring one of you back before I type in the password."

"Just type it in, Jeremie," Ulrich spat.

Jeremie sighed and typed in the password **Scipio**. A moment later, they were all taken to Sector 5. The moment the countdown began, Ulrich was off working at Super Sprint to find the button while the others trailed behind and protected Aelita from any Creepers that decided to attack.

"This place is damn freaky," Mardi commented once the countdown had been stopped and the all relaxed slightly. It was her first time in Sector 5. "Now, remind me, how do we find our way through this maze?"

"Jeremie guides us," Aelita said.

Mardi nodded as she followed the group through the maze with Jeremie's directions. She kept her eyes on Yumi and Ulrich as the two glared at one another. Then, unbeknownst to the other, each gave the other a longing look while the other wasn't looking. Only Mardi saw these exchanges and felt really bad for them because of a few stupid rumors.

"Did you hear about those two reporter girls?" One of Ulrich's classmates asked him the next day as he came into literature. "Milly and Tamiya? I heard that they are stalking a few boys here and that they've got pictures of those boys in almost every situation. I sure hope I'm not one; they're weird."

"Where did you hear this?" Ulrich asked.

"Herve got it from somewhere," the boy said. "But, everyone has heard about it."

Ulrich walked past the boy and took his seat next to Odd. Odd looked distressed. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't like these rumors about Milly and Tamiya," Odd said. "I've heard that they're secretly in a relationship, that they've got a shrine to Jim in their closet, and that they're stalking at least eight different boys."

"So, someone got mad at them for something and started a rumor that escalated into something bigger than it really was," Ulrich said.

Odd looked at Ulrich. "Like how they came up with the rumor that Yumi and William are dating?"

"They got pictures of that," Ulrich justified his actions from the day before.

"It's called bad timing," Odd suggested. "Maybe a bad angle. There are a million ways to get that picture."

"And there's still the possibility that they're together," Ulrich said.

"Well, now that you asked Sissy out I wouldn't be surprised if Yumi actually asked William out," Odd said. "For your information, they are not going out, nor did they kiss. The only thing they did was whisper really close to one another."

"Do you know how fake that sounds?" Ulrich asked.

"I do," Odd said. "But that's what William said. Didn't ask Yumi her side yet."

"Don't bother," Ulrich said. "She'll lie about what happened."

Odd shook his head and turned toward the front of the room as the teacher began his lesson.

Aelita and Mardi had just emerged from the lunch line, lunches in hand, when they realized that something was wrong with their usual table. They looked at each other, then scanned the room, trying to fine Odd and Jeremie. There was, after all, no way they wanted to sit with Sissy, who Ulrich had apparently invited to their usual table. Jeremie and Odd, however were still in the food line.

"Think we can annoy her away?" Mardi asked Aelita.

"Not without getting Ulrich mad at us," Aelita said.

"Is he ever not mad at us?" Mardi asked. "It'll be a lot of fun…"

"Oh, Mardi, please don't," Aelita said. She pouted her lower lip. "You know that Odd will, whether or not we do, so why don't we leave it to Odd?"

"Odd on his own will get his ass handed to him," Mardi said. "Especially now that Sissy and Ulrich are an 'item'. Don't think of it as annoying Sissy, but as protecting Odd."

Aelita just stared at Mardi for a few moments.

"Or, leave the annoyance to me?" Mardi tried again.

Aelita sighed. "I guess I could live with that."

"Good," Mardi said, pushing Aelita ahead of her to their table.

"Hello," Sissy said almost happily to Aelita and Mardi when they arrived. "We were wondering what was keeping you."

"Oh, congratulations, did you get an A in fakeness?" Mardi asked. "And, actually, you kept us, Sissy." Aelita and Ulrich cringed at the up and coming argument.

"What do you mean by that?" Sissy asked, now plain angry.

"I mean that we didn't want to sit wherever you were," Mardi said. "But, at least we chose you over your friends, so you have something to be proud about, though I wouldn't call that much."

"Oohhh!" Sissy shouted. "Shut up, why don't you? You're only here because your dad didn't know what to do with you after your mother got put into the hospital."

From that erupted a huge gasp from everyone looking on. Mardi narrowed her eyes in extreme anger, but tears were visible about to fall and Sissy slapped her hands over her mouth as if she had just told the biggest secret in the school. "How dare you even mention that," Mardi said, her voice quiet and shaking before she stood and pushed her way out of the cafeteria. She didn't even dump anything on Sissy as was expected.

"Mardi?" Odd asked, entering the laundry room. He didn't know why, but as soon as he found out exactly what happened from Aelita, he had a feeling he'd find Mardi in the laundry room. He saw the toes of her boots pull back behind the washing machines. He sighed and approached, closing the door behind him.

"I'd like to be alone right now," she said, not looking up.

"Mardi, don't do this," Odd said crouching in front of her.

She shook her head, burying it behind her arms and legs. Her long blonde hair hid the bit of face that wasn't hidden behind her legs. Her current position was not good for being in a skirt, he realized and he moved to sit next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders, causing her to pull herself into a tighter ball.

"I know you think you should be alone right now," Odd said, "but that's not going to help. Being with others will. You need support, and that's what I'm here for. Let me help you, please."

Mardi sobbed for a moment, then leaned into Odd's embrace. He held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay, Mardi."

"It was the hurricane," Mardi finally said. "It put my mom in the hospital." She grabbed two handfuls of Odd's shirt and pulled herself closer to him, sobbing even more. "My dad thought it would be best to get me somewhere away from the coast where there weren't hurricanes and that way I wouldn't bother him while he worked or visited my mom."

Mardi clung to Odd for several minutes, before loosening her grip and relaxing a little against him, exhausted from crying. She finally looked up at him, tears still leaking from her eyes, but obviously relieved that she had gotten through sobbing with his help and support. Odd smiled down at her and lightly kissed her forehead. When he pulled back, Mardi reached up and put her hand on his cheek, lightly urging him closer, so he obliged and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back with a fiery passion.

After a minute, he felt Mardi crawl onto his lap, straddling him. While he knew he shouldn't, he put his hands on her hips, holding tight and she pressed her body against his. Slightly concerned about what she was up to, Odd wanted to stop and pull away, but his body was reacting so positively toward her actions that he held tight. Mardi moaned slightly against the kiss, then began moving her mouth downward toward his jaw line and neck. Even more, Odd could feel his body happily reacting. Apparently, so could Mardi as she repositioned herself so she was pressed even more against him. Almost unaware of what he was doing, Odd's hands slid along her thighs until they were resting just below the hem of her skirt. He groaned slightly as he felt her teeth run slightly against the skin of his neck. She then trailed her tongue up his neck, along his jaw and to his ear. She whispered in a husky voice, "Give me something to be happy about, Odd. I beg of you."

"This can't happen, Mardi," Odd whispered in the same tone. His hands and body, however, disagreed as he slipped his hands under her skirt.

"Please, Odd," Mardi continued. Odd closed his eyes, unable to look her in the eye. "I beg of you."

"Where's Mardi?" Yumi asked when Odd arrived at the factory.

Odd looked at the ground at his feet, not proud of what he had done. "She's still upset about Sissy's comment," Odd replied. "Spent a good few hours just sobbing, and I didn't have the heart to ask her to come to Lyoko in her state. She needed to get some good rest, so I took her to our room, Ulrich, so she could avoid Sissy." In reality, she was sleeping, wrapped under Odd's blankets. Her boots were leaning against the bed and Kiwi had pushed his nose into her tangled and messed up hair.

"What's that on your neck, Odd?" Aelita asked as he turned toward the elevator to go to the scanner room.

"Uh… what?"

"Oh, God, that's a hickey," Yumi said. Odd was blushing madly and Aelita tilted her head in confusion. Yumi stepped closer to the pink-haired girl and explained what a hickey was.

"Sobbing away madly, huh Odd?" Ulrich asked. "You were comforting her. Good thing we don't have afternoon classes on Saturdays because I don't think that making out would be a viable excuse for missing classes."

"Just go to the scanners and you can tease Odd later," Jeremie said.

"Thanks, Einstein," Odd said sarcastically as both Ulrich and Yumi were making fun of him, each trying to outdo the other, making the insults extra harsh.

"So, what did you and Mardi really do?" Ulrich asked Odd as the two headed toward their dorm after gathering more information from Sector 5. Jeremie, Aelita, and Yumi were staying in the factory, but Odd and Ulrich both preferred to leave.

"What do you mean?" Odd asked. "You think I lied?"

"Well, unless someone else gave you that hickey…"

"Okay, so maybe we did a little making out once she had finished crying," Odd said, staring straight ahead of him.

"Are you sure?" Ulrich asked. "We're not going to walk into our room and find a naked girl in your bed?"

"She'll probably have gone to her own room by this time," Odd said. "And at no point was she or I naked. You think I would have left her if items of clothing were being removed?"

Ulrich shrugged. "I suppose not," he said. "But I definitely would run off if Sissy tried to do that?"

Odd smiled. "How's that working out for you, anyway?"

Ulrich laughed, knowing Odd expected him to start complaining what a pain Sissy was. "Not too bad, actually. She's really not that bad when you think about it. And she's really making an effort to be nice."

"Yeah, it was really nice what she said to Mardi," Odd rolled his eyes.

"Mardi started that," Ulrich said, "and you know that. Plus, she felt really bad about it, but couldn't find Mardi anywhere. I guess she didn't check our room."

Odd bit his lip. "We were actually in the laundry room."

Ulrich smirked. "Really? For the driers, by any chance? Does the vibrating—" Odd pushed him to shut him up.

"No, it was because the only day anyone goes in there is Thursday when they all decide they need to clean their clothes for the weekend." Odd looked ahead. "Plus, it's her sort of safe house for when she's got stuff on her mind. She likes the rumble and folding the clothes and all that stuff."

"How about the humid atmosphere?" Ulrich asked. "Does it make experiences anymore natural and sensual?"

"Aw, shut it already," Odd snapped. They had finally reached their room and Odd opened the door. Sitting on the ground was Mardi playing with an excited Kiwi. She looked up and smiled at the two boys.

"I took him out a few minutes ago because he was scratching at the door," she said. "I thought I'd just stick around and keep him company until you came back. Is that okay?"

"Perfectly fine, Mardi," Ulrich said. "Stay as long as you like so long as you leave before Jim checks the rooms."

Mardi smiled at Ulrich and continued to play with Kiwi, acting overly innocent in Ulrich's opinion. Ulrich looked at Odd, wanting an explanation to Mardi's innocence. Odd would only reply with a shrug.

"Anything useful, Jeremie?" Yumi asked as Jeremie wrapped up his work for the night. "I have to get home soon, but I can't leave you two alone."

"You're right, Yumi," Jeremie said. "It's about to get late. Aelita and I had better be back before Jim does room checks. Come on. I can analyze this in my room."

The three got in the elevator and began to ride it up, until it stopped between two floors.

"Why's it not moving?" Aelita asked.

"Power's still on," Jeremie said. "I suppose it could be a XANA attack."

"Let's pry the doors open," Yumi suggested. "Being stuck anywhere else is better than here."

Jeremie and Aelita pulled on one side of the elevator door while Yumi pulled on the other. After several minutes, they had no progress.

"Okay, let's call Ulrich and Odd," Jeremie said. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Ulrich. Yumi did the same thing, dialing Odd.

"Only Yumi could get them stuck in the elevator," Ulrich grumbled as he, Odd, and Mardi made their way to the factory.

"Usually, I'd be to blame," Odd said.

"But Ulrich's not pissed at you right now," Mardi reminded him. "Had it not been for Yumi getting caught on camera in a compromising position, he wouldn't be dating my cousin right now. "

"Mardi, I would not be talking if I were you," Ulrich snapped. "Just look at who you are dating." They got to the park, crawled down the sewer, and found that their skateboards were missing. "Perfect," Ulrich growled with a dramatic eye roll as he began toward the factory.

"Pick up the pace, Ulrich," Mardi said as she began to jog past him. "We have to save Aelita and Jeremie as well as Yumi."

"She's right, you know," Odd said running past Ulrich as well.

"Let's just go get them free," Ulrich said picking up his pace.

The three ran quickly to the factory. "Okay, somehow we have to get into the elevator shaft, and open the top, help them climb out, etc." Mardi said.

"No problem with the first bit," Odd said pressing the code into the keypad. Nothing happened.

"Now what?" Ulrich questioned.

"Well, now we find out why the elevator is not working," Odd said. "Anyone have a crowbar?"

"This has either got to be a power failure or a XANA attack," Mardi said. "I say we find out which before we jump to breaking open the elevator."

The three took the back route to the super computer. "Looks like they tried to leave one second too soon," Ulrich said. "It's XANA."

"So, how do we get them out of the elevator?" Mardi asked.

"I actually agree with Odd about the crowbar," Ulrich said.

"Or, if none of the doors can be pried open, we could always break into the top and lower ourselves down to them," Mardi suggested.

"Be careful on the ladder," Odd said as Mardi lowered herself to the elevator shaft from above where it began. "Don't slip or anything."

"Calm down, Odd," Mardi said. "I'm not useless." She climbed down the ladder until she reached the stopped elevator. As soon as she was steady on the elevator, Mardi kicked in the door.

"Thank God," Yumi said. "We couldn't get it open from in here."

"Okay, let's start getting people up," Mardi said reaching a hand down. "It's XANA that's made us so happy this time."

Aelita was the first to be pulled out of the car. However, as soon as se started up the ladder, the elevator began dropping uncontrollably. In a flash decision, Aelita jumped back toward the car, which stopped moving so that she wouldn't be hurt.

"Okay, Aelita climbs up last," Mardi said gripping her chest after having screamed and felt her life flash before her. She reached back into the car. "Jeremie, hand please."

The four climbed up the shaft to the scanner room where they finally pried open the door from the inside. Odd and Ulrich were already there.

"Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, into the scanners," Jeremie instructed as he climbed to the control room. "I'll send you to Lyoko."

"That was a pretty lame attack," Odd said climbing into a scanner.

Once Jeremie was at the computer, he found that the elevator wasn't the only thing screwy in the factory. His chair was spinning around at a fast rate and the keys were typing by themselves. XANA sent the three in the scanners to Lyoko, to his choosing. They landed surrounded by monsters in the Mountain Region.

"Great choice, Jeremie," Ulrich mumbled as he pulled out his saber. "Uh, Jeremie?"

Mardi and Aelita didn't get the signal to steer clear of the scanners as Jeremie's chair knocked him out as it spun past him. XANA sent them straight to the Scipazoa in the Ice Region.

"Okay, something screwy is going on," Mardi said pulling out her sword as the Crabs surrounded her. "Where are the others?"

As the others were fighting off Crabs, Tarantulas, and Blocks, it wasn't long before one of them lost all life points. Odd was the first to be devirtualized. Ulrich and Yumi, still silent toward one another, were backed to the edge. Blocking lasers, one hit Ulrich, and rather than devirtualizing him, it merely pushed him off the cliff.

"Oh, Ulrich!" Yumi cried out as Ulrich fell backwards toward the digital sea. She reached out her hand and grabbed his at the last second. His weight pulled her down, but she kept on the cliff, though she was now lying on her stomach. Yumi pulled out a fan with her free hand and threw it at the monsters, hitting one, but that was it.

"Yumi, hit me," Ulrich said as he saw Yumi cringe getting hit. "If you get devirtualized holding me like this, I'll fall into the digital sea. I know you're mad at me, but I'll never be able to make it up to you if I drop."

Yumi nodded and pulled out her fan. She hit Ulrich with it, devirtualizing him before she was hit herself. They both fell out of their scanners to see Odd climbing the ladder. "Something must have happened to Jeremie," Odd explained as he continued climbing.

"Aelita,, when I say go, run to the tower," Mardi said. "Okay?"

"Sounds good," Aelita said. "What do you have in mind?"

"You'll see," Mardi said holding up her shield as she was shot at. "Take this." She handed Aelita her sword. "If the Jellyfish attacks, use it."

Aelita nodded. "What about you?"

"Go!" Mardi yelled and charged at the oncoming Crabs with her shield held up. Aelita ran like Mardi had told her to. When she was confronted by the Scipazoa, she held up the sword, but it wasn't threatened. Just before it grabbed her, Mardi threw her shield at the monster, knocking it back and giving Aelita the passage to the tower before Mardi lost her life points.

"Tower deactivated." Aelita said.

"Jeremie's out cold," Yumi said. "I don't know how to bring Aelita back."

"Then launch a return to the past because we can't leave Aelita in Lyoko for too long alone," Ulrich said.

Yumi nodded. "I can do that." She looked at Ulrich. "I'm not dating William, just to let you know."

"This is Milly here, with the Kadic News. I am getting an exclusive interview with Ulrich Stern, long time admirer of Yumi Ishyama and most likely the best looking boy on campus," Milly said toward the camera in Tamiya's arms. She turned to Ulrich and asked, "How does it feel to know Yumi picked William over you?"

"Funny, because it looks to me like they're just whispering," Ulrich said with a smirk. "Wait until Yumi gets here and I'll show you a real kiss."

Milly and Tamiya looked at one another before squealing with delight.


End file.
